


The Gortys Project

by TenshiWarrior



Series: Borderlands: The Gortys Project [1]
Category: Borderlands, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni | Higurashi When They Cry, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-11-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 15:33:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 71,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3773977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenshiWarrior/pseuds/TenshiWarrior
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhys and Shadow have been working in the company known as Hyperion with their friends. However when they get demoted instead of getting a promising promotion they plan to ruin their bosses career, by stealing a deal, which involves the alien tech known as the Vault Key.</p><p>Meanwhile on the planet Pandora, Fiona, Sasha and their youngest sister Plutia plan to con a deal to steal a lot of money from their dealers which happen to be from Hyperion. </p><p>Unfortunately for both sides of the story, things don’t go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Promotion

**Author's Note:**

> The following story follows the same story as the Tales from the Borderlands, so spoilers ahead for those of you that haven’t started to play it or watch on YouTube. If you don’t like stories like this, than I’d advise you not to read ahead.

_Back again? To hear another story of immense fortune and unthinkable peril?_

_Well… I have some time._

_The Borderlands of Pandora were told to contain mysterious alien treasure troves filled with advance technology and incredible power. Vaults at least that’s what people called them… and to seek one out was to earn you the title of Vault Hunter… at least by me._

_You could say Handsome Jack was one such explorer, though his methods could be seen as… somewhat unsporting. He ran the corporation Hyperion… and died trying to claim Pandora as his own._

_History’s attention is fickle, my friends. It will remember those pirates like Handsome Jack but forget the adventurers who risk it all for less… ah obvious._

_Rewards._

_Stories, legends, those are much better at getting at the real spirit of things. Stories, remember both sides of the tale._

* * *

 - **_Somewhere on Pandora_ ** -

 

In the wasteland of the desert two people walked from the plains of Pandora. There was a man who a black suit and a silver robotic arm with brown hair. The other was a eighteen year old teen with red and black hair; he wore a black coat with an dark orange shirt and grey pants and had a pair of red crimson eyes; but on his left eye was robotic had metal under his eye and it looked like it was a snake.

 

The man with the black suit was holding an ECHO device of some kind that was beeping. They both looked around.

 

“You sure this is the right place?” The eighteen year old teen asked the man.

 

“Well this is what the she said to meet up.” The man told him.

 

The teen looked around again, "It doesn't look like anybody's here."

 

They walked over by a billboard which had read, "Prosperity Junction" but some of the letters were faded. Just behind the billboard looked like what appeared to be an abandoned town that had a single clock tower, to which the arrows did not move; not even an inch. They stopped just in front of the bill board and took a look around.

 

They each called out a name.

 

"Fiona? Come on! We can work this out!"

 

"Plutia! Plutia! Where are you?! If you're here, come on out!"

 

No answer came for them, as the wind continued to blow. It wasn't before long until the device in the mans hand started to beep rapidly. "What do you think that means?" The teen had asked him. "I--I don't know." The man replied.

 

They soon heard the sound of footsteps. They turned around to see that it was a person wearing some kind of mask, with only a single way to look through and a metal sun hat. The person wore strange clothing, and held what appeared to be a shotgun. The teen backed up a bit, but the man had said, "Fiona? What, is there some sort radiation leak we don't know abo--"

 

The man was cut off however when the person hit him in the head with the but of the gun; the teen jumped at this.

* * *

  ** _RHYS_**

**_THE COMPANY MAN_ **

* * *

 Rhys fell to the ground hard, and the teen gritted his teeth at the person. " **WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU DAMN BASTARD!?** " He shouted as he rushed him. But this was shortly lived when the person made him lose his balance and hit him in the back of the head with the butt of the gun. He fell to the ground passing out as well.

* * *

  ** _SHADOW_**

**_YOUNGEST COMPANY MAN ALSO ONE OF RHYS'S BEST FRIEND_ **

* * *

 A little while later, Rhys woke up in bindings and was being dragged by the person who had attacked them earlier; While Shadow was over the persons shoulder.  He noticed Rhys was awake.

 

"Welcome back to the living hell known as Pandora." He said jokingly.

 

Rhys tried to get out of the bindings but it was to no avail. But he couldn't help but ask the person he was currently getting dragged by, "Where exactly are we going?"

 

The person responded with his voice all synthetic, "I ask the questions."

 

"Yeah, that's the answer he gave me when I asked him that." Shadow told Rhys.

 

"Okay, than..." Rhys said, before asking the person again, "Do you mind asking yourself where you're taking us?"

 

The person stayed silently this time. He continued walk through the deserted wasteland. "What?" Shadow said, "You're going to ignore us now is that it? We just want to what you're going-- **OW! HEY!** "

 

Shadow was dropped to the ground; he coughed a bit since dust of sand flew into his mouth. He sat himself up despite the bindings. " **THAT WAS A BIT UNCALLED FOR!** " Before he could shout anything more, he found himself face to face with the barrel of the shot gun.

 

"If you know what's good for you. You'll keep your mouth shut unless I demand for an answer." The person said to him. Shadow said nothing, he just turned away from the person. The person removed the gun out of his face and walked over to Rhys. He was standing over him now.

 

He kicked Rhys in the side; hard.

 

" **OWW!** " Rhys exclaimed, "What the hell?!" The person had then kneeled and said, "Tell me about the Gortys Project."

 

Shadow chuckled a bit, “Seriously? That’s what this is about? You couldn’t just ask us nicely?”

 

The person turned to Shadow giving him a look behind the mask. His attention was back to Rhys when he said to him, “But seriously, Gortys is bad business. Now if you want a real hot investment, I am on the ground floor of some property on Eden--”

 

Rhys was cut off when the person got up and pointed the shotgun at his crotch. Rhus panicked as he said, “Okay! Okay. Okay. Okay.”

 

“Don’t be a smart ass.” The person said, “I’m not a patient person. So just start talking, the both of you.” He then started to drag Rhys by the foot and instead of throwing Shadow back over his shoulder he dragged him by the neck of his jacket.

 

“Where exactly do you want us to start when we’re being dragged through the sand of the desert?” Shadow had asked the person.

 

“Start from the beginning.” The person had replied.

 

Rhys and Shadow both looked at each other. “Right…” Rhys had said. He then started to tell the story.

* * *

 (Key:

_When the wording is slightly slanted than this means Rhys is telling the story._

**_When the wording is bolded like this, than this means Shadow is telling the story._** )

 

_I guess it all started with a promotion… See I spent my entire career up at Hyperion, and Shadow had started working around the time when Jack was still alive and after when he died; both him and his friend were the youngest out of all of us… So in a way, I guess that makes us the bad guys of the story. And Handsome Jack, he was the baddest guy of ‘em all. And despite Shadow knowing so little about him, he and I wanted to be just like him. Well it wasn’t just us, everyone did. Which… resulted in a company overflowing with assholes._

 

**_You see when, Handsome Jack died, things got how you’d say a bit more chaotic, and that was literally beyond our standards, at least that’s what I was told anyway. Believe me it wasn’t for me or Mion or well all of us to fit in to Hyperion. It took a while, but we somehow managed._ **

 

_Sure, it took a few selects stabs in the back, a new hair cut and the help of a couple of friends… We were on our way to get the promotion that was going to change our lives._

 

**_Correction, everyones lives. For the better._ **

 

_Yeah, for the better._

* * *

 - ** _Sometime Ago; Hyperion Station over Pandora (Rhys & Shadow’s P.O.V)_**-

 

Today was the day. The day that he and Rhys were both waiting for. The promotion. All the hard work had to pay off since he started to work with Hyperion. True it took him a while to get used to things but it was all worth it.

 

Shadow only heard story of Handsome Jack, to many who praised him. Honestly he couldn’t see why, however in a way, he did respect a man like Jack; It was crazy but he did. He made his way to the top, and so was he. He stood in front of him a poster of Jack and was in his thoughts about it. He slightly jumped when he was jumped from behind.

 

“ **SURPRISE SHADES!!** ” He turned to see that it was his best friend, who was a teen just like him. She had long green emerald hair that was tied back into a ponytail and had the same colored eyes. She had on a brown jacket with a golden yellow t-shirt with the Hyperion logo slapped across it like his shirt was. She also had on a pair of navy blue jeans and dark brown dress shoes.

* * *

  _ **MION**_

_**SHADOW’S BEST/CHILDHOOD FRIEND AND FRIEND OF RHYS** _

* * *

 All Shadow did was catch his breath when he realized that it was someone familiar to him. “Damn it Mion!” Shadow said, “You gave me a heart attack!”

 

“You know I can’t help myself Shades. I’m just excited is all.” Mion said with a smile, “I just heard the news from Yvette, so this is gonna be the day than?”

 

Shadow said with a half smile which quickly faded, “Yeah, it’s going to be.” She then gave Shadow a hug which of course surprised him but soon started to choke him. “I’m so proud of you Shades! You and Rhys are going to be with the big boys!” Mion said as she hugged him harder, “This is just the best day ever!”

 

“Mion…” Shadow managed to say, “You’re kind of choking me…”

 

“Oh sorry.” Mion said breaking out of the hug, “But I can’t help myself, it really is the best thing that could happen! You getting a promotion and at the age of eighteen! I can't get that promotion even if I wanted too! Think about it, you go from being a computer guy and lab assistant to something even better than just sitting behind a computer! Oh man have you grown.”

 

“Yeah that. Look at me… All grown up.”

 

Mion noticed the look on in his eyes. He had what appeared to be an unsure look in his eye and robotic eye; he leaned against the wall with his back supporting him and hands in his jacket pocket, “Hey, what’s the matter? I thought you would have more enthusiasm. I mean, aren’t at the very least excited with what’s about to happen right now?”

 

“Of course I am.” Shadow had told her, “It’s just that, I still can’t believe that we were at some point two kids on Pandora pretty much scrounging for food like a couple of skags. Not only that I lost my left eye thanks to a Bandit, and you have a scar because of one of them.”

 

“Yeah, seems like yesterday that we were like that.”

 

“I mean, if it weren’t that man Jack, we would’ve still been that way.”.

 

"You know something I'm still in shock at the fact that he would just pretty save our asses.”

 

“I’m still in shock about that too.”

 

Mion had then drew her own conclusion to what her friend was thinking. “Oh I get it now, you’re still wondering why he helped us aren’t you?” All Shadow did was nod his head to her. Mion then placed her hand on his shoulder, “Come on how many times do I have to tell you not to worry about it, and be grateful. I mean he even went through all that trouble to get your eye replaced with that robotic one.”

 

Mion tapped under his eye on the metal plating, “And half of my brain.” Shadow had added, “And FYI it’s not exactly the latest ECHOeye ***** you know.”

 

( ** _Shadow’s ECHOeye is able to scan like Rhys’s ECHOeye, however unlike his, he is unable to download information from nearby machines; direct download from a memory drive however that’s another story._** )

 

“Well it is something isn’t it?” Mion said, “I mean at least you’re not seeing with just the one eye.”

 

“I guess.” He told her, “I know you tell me not to get too much into the real reason why Jack saved our lives, and for that matter give me a replacement for my left eye, but I just can’t help it.”

 

“Sure you can’t download things from nearby computers like Rhys can, but hey, at least with your brain being half robotic you can at least download info from a memory drive.”

 

“Which I don’t even know if I can actually do, since let’s face it, no one asked me.”

 

“Oh come on Shades, you’re being paranoid. Besides whatever the case, I think Jack there had a good reason to help us.”

 

Shadow stayed silent at this point, not saying anything to her. Mion patted him on the shoulder again, “Come on cheer up. You’re getting a promotion remember?”

 

Shadow let out a smile, at the mention of that, “Yeah, it’s that big day! It’s going to be for the better for everyone.”

 

“There we go, that’s the spirit!” Mion said, “Now let’s go meet Rhys and Vaughn up at the office shall we?”

 

“Right.” Shadow had said. And thus they went towards the office.

 

Meanwhile Rhys was excited at the fact that he was getting a promotion, as he walked proudly towards the office where he would talked to his boss. He spent about three years already just kissing up to the guy, and it was all worth it in the end, for not just for himself but with everyone that worked in Hyperion.

 

It was going to be glorious for Rhys and Shadow; they both equally worked hard and at the fact they kiss up to their boss.

 

He was soon bought out of his thoughts when his friend had asked him, “What’s the first thing you’re going to buy? I know what Henderson’s making… I do his payroll.”  

* * *

  _ **VAUGHN**_

_**RHYS’S BEST FRIEND; THE MONEY MAN** _

* * *

 They turned the corner of the hallway.

 

“If you and Shadow are getting a fraction of what he earns you guys are going to be rolling in it.” Vaughn had said, “Being an exec in Hyperion comes with expectations.”

 

“I figure I could get lunch first.” Rhys had told him, “Seems like a good place to start.”

 

Vaughn had then said, “Well then we’re starting with 5 of whatever is the most expensive and wine pairings.”

 

“What, for lunch?”

 

“We’re gonna get twisted bro. I mean if I’m not puking up five hundred dollars in food and alcohol this afternoon then we are doing it wrong.”

 

“Even with teens?”

 

“Hey you know the old saying you only live once, even they know that.”

 

“That is true.”

 

They saw the door to the office just down the hall. “We’re meeting with Yvette afterward to celebrate.” Vaughn had said, “She booked us a table.”

 

“Yup sounds good.” Rhys had said.

 

Vaughn and Rhys both stopped within the middle of the hallway. Vaughn had then said, “Look we had to a lot of awful stuff to get to where you and Shadow are. Do I regret some of it? Sure I do. Every night it haunts my dreams, but that doesn’t matter now. Cause you made it. You deserve this man. And don’t ever think that you don’t.”

 

“Hey.” Rhys had said to him, “We made it, okay? We’re in this together. If me and Shadow are moving up, than we’re all moving up. You can be certain of that.” Vaughn let out a smile and said to Rhys, “I appreciate that Rhys. You know people around here have a short memories when it comes to stuff like that.”

 

“You, me, Shadow, Mion and Yvette, we’re going to run this place.” Rhys said to him.

 

“Yes we are.” Vaughn had agreed.

 

Just than they heard a voice all too familiar down the hall. “ **HEY! RHYS! VAUGHN!!** ”

 

They saw that it was Mion who had called out to them; She stood by Shadow’s side as she waved over to them. Rhys waved back and went to over to them. “Hey guys!” Mion had said.

 

“Hello, Mion and Shadow.” Rhys had said, “Nice to see you two on this fine day.”

 

“Right back at ya.” Shadow had said.

 

“Alright you two ready to do this?” Mion had asked.

 

“As ready as we’ll ever be.” Rhys had said.

 

“In that case, it’s time to get the Hyperion face on.” Vaughn had said to the two of them. “Right.” Rhys and Shadow said in unison.

 

Shadow gave what appeared a fake smile with a raised eyebrow, while Rhys gave out what appeared to be a sneer. Mion and Vaughn both looked at each other and shook their heads when they turned back to them. “Nah, that seems a bit too friendly.” Mion had said to them.

 

“Agreed.” Vaughn said, “You guys need something a bit more condescending. How about, this? Tilt your head back like one of us said there is something up you’re noise.”

 

Shadow and Rhys did just that still having the same look. “Like this?” Rhys had said.

 

“You two don’t respect us at all.” Mion said, “That’s perfect!”

 

Rhys gave a thumbs up while Shadow gave a wink and thus they both went inside. But the minute the door slammed shut they saw that the office had looked different which caused their look to fade. There was literally nothing within the room which had struck them as odd. They both looked at each other pretty much confused by this than they turned to the desk that sat at the far end of the room.

 

“Mister… Henderson?” Rhys said.

 

The man sitting at the desk had said, “Have a seat you two, I’ll just be a second.” They heard him talking over the phone with someone, “No I wasn’t talking to you. Yes I’m talking to you now.”

 

They both approached the desk, a bit surprised to hear a voice other than the voice of their boss.

 

The man who was supposedly their boss was still talking over the phone.

 

“Yeah, but I don’t want it in red, I want in black--Because black is better, look don’t concern yourself with ‘why?’ okay Jerry? Concern yourself with ‘how?’”

 

When they stood right in front of the desk, both of there eyes widen in shock when they saw the name plate.

 

“And just send the car when it’s ready.” The man said, finishing up his call.

 

The chair revealing to be someone both Rhys and Shadow knew too well. “Company car.” He said as he tapped on the screen of his computer, “Didn’t even have to ask.”

* * *

  _ **HUGO VASQUEZ**_

_**NEMESIS OF RHYS AND SHADOW** _

* * *

 Both Rhys and Shadow had their jaws wide open when they saw the guy they equally hated, Hugo Vasquez sitting in the chair instead of Henderson. They couldn’t even find the words to describe the situation they were in right now.

 

“You two look surprised to see me.” Vasquez had said putting his feet on the desk, “And if I’m reading the situation right, and I usually am. You’re not too happy about it either. This all came together quick, so you both might’ve not been in the loop. But it’s for the better… at least for me.”

 

“So…” Shadow had started to say, “Where’s Henderson?”

 

“He uh…” Vasquez started to say, “Stepped out. As of right now, you two are going to be reporting to me. And I want you to know the promotion you both worked so hard to get, that’s still coming to you.”

 

They both sat down in the chairs that was provided in front of the office.

 

“Well that’s a relief.” Rhys had said, “Because we--” Rhys was cut off by Vasquez when he said, “But this is more about more than that Rhys. It’s about your futures in this company.”

 

Vasquez stood up from his seat and sat on the front of the desk right in front of Rhys. “Look…” He started to say, “You wanna why, I’m the one that’s sitting in that chair and one of you are not? It’s the very same reason why North is North, why when the handsome guy always get’s the girl, and why every spaceship in the universe is shaped like a cock. It’s destiny. Men like me, real men like me, make their own.”

 

Vasquez than stood up and walked over to the window. “You two can hold a grudge if you like, no harm, no foul, your thoughts are your own. But bad things can happen when you swim against fate. Sometimes men find themselves standing in the way of other men’s destiny… Neither of you want to be that man.”

 

Both Rhys and Shadow couldn’t help but look out the large window. They jumped at the fact they saw there now former boss was floating in space with a face of terror written on his face. Even Vasquez was shocked about it.

 

“Wow.” Vasquez had said, “I could not have timed that better, that really helps dramatically make my point.”

 

“Yeah, how about that?” Shadow had mumbled.

 

Vasquez had then walked back over to the desk, “Well anyway, as I was saying…” Vasquez had said, “This promotion is going to take the two of you out of the way of other peoples destiny and put you on your own paths. And that my friends is why I’m promoting the two of you to--”

 

Before Vasquez could finish, his intercom had let out a ringtone of some kind. “Jerry!” Vasquez yelled, “Why isn’t my new car digi-structuring in my office yet?!”

 

But instead of being Jerry it was a different man that had spoken. “Vasquez. It’s August.”

 

“Oh August.” Vasquez had said hesitantly, “Uh… Cool. Listen, I’m kind of in the middle of something here so--”

 

The man named August had cut him off, “Are you buyin’ this Vault Key or what? Cause I--”

 

With a press of a button Vasquez had transferred the call to his earpiece. “How did this happen so quick? I thought I had more time.”

 

Rhys and Shadow both sat back in their seat and let Vasquez take the call. “Damn it…” Shadow said, “How the hell did this even happen?”

 

“Still can’t believe the fact that Henderson’s dead.” Rhys said, “Three years of sucking up to the guy just went down the drain.”

 

Shadow then looked over at where Vasquez was pacing as he talked to the person who was named August; He turned back to Rhys.

 

“Hey.” He said to him, “What do you think the deal about the Vault Key is about?”

 

“Don’t know.” Rhys had replied, “But by the sound of it, Vazquez is in a pinch.”

 

“I’m not surprised.”

 

They both turned to the computer. Shadow had then asked Rhys while smirking, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

 

“Hell’s yeah.” Rhys said, “Just give me two minutes.”

 

His blue eye which was his ECHOeye began to light up, and immediately went to work, as Shadow kept his eyes on Vasquez. Rhy’s eye scanned the computer. With just a simple look at Vasquez’s computer, he downloaded the files and it appeared into the palm of robotic hand; from the choice of his car to the deal of the Vault Key.

 

He started to decode the information specifically the one about the Vault Key. Shadow then tapped on his shoulder, and Rhys put the information away in his head.  Rhys smirked, and they both brofisted each other as Vasquez finished his call.

 

“Why are trying to screw me with this?” He asked the man over the phone; the man named August had said something to him over the phone which caused him to say, “Oh fine. Just wait there okay? I can only be down--If it’s going to be ten million dollars I’m gonna need another hour or two--Okay yeah, I’ll be a bit--Well than just stay there. It’s a tourist shop, right? Buy a mug or something--Sure, sure. Okay, say ‘Hi’ to your mom.”

And just like that Vasquez hung up. “Damnit.” He couldn’t help but mumble to himself; He turned back to the two. “Sorry about that, had some important business to take care of. So… What were we talking about? Before we were so rudely interrupted.”

 

“We were, talking about our promotion sir.” Shadow had said to him.

 

“Oh, right.” Vasquez said remembering the conversation, “The promotion.”

 

Vasquez sat on the table, “Henderson, was a fool.” He began to say, “He didn’t know his place. He needed lesson number 1… humility. But the two of you. Honestly, I respect you. That’s why I’m going to make you… janitors.”

 

Both of their jaws dropped by what Vasquez had just said to them. “What?” Was the only thing Shadow could say, “WHAT?”

 

Rhys had then said, “N-no, no. Y-y-you can’t do that!”

 

Vasquez had said as he got up from where he sat, “I’m the boss now Rhys. I could do whatever I want. You two are to report to sewage scow, twenty-three, effective immediately.”

 

“You can’t do this to us!” Shadow had yelled getting up from his seat, “Do you even realize how hard we worked to get to where we are right now!”

 

“Yeah!” Rhys had exclaimed, “You can’t just humiliate us like that! We quit!”

 

Vasquez said to them, “Careful now. The only way the two of you can quit, is the way Henderson did. You two are dismissed.”

 

Rhys got up from his seat, and they both turned to leave the office. As they walked towards the door they heard Vasquez say, “I’ll let one of you know when I need my trashcan emptied.” This had made Shadow let out a low growl and Rhys to shake his head angrily.

 

They stepped out of the office to see that Mion and Vaughn were just as surprised as they were; the doors slammed shut.

 

“What the hell just happened!?” Vaughn had exclaimed, “He can’t do this to us!”

 

“He just did.” Rhys had said, with his blood just boiling.

 

“ **I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT BASTARD!!** ” Mion couldn’t help but shout as they walked down the hall, “ **I JUST CAN’T BELIEVE IT!** ”

 

“This can’t be happening!” Vaughn couldn’t help but say, “It just can’t!”

 

“I give up.” Rhys said, “That’s it, we’re just finished with this. I mean you guys know how this place is **… THERE’S BLOOD IN THE WATER AND EVERYONE CAN SMELL IT!!** ”

 

“Well they can’t exactly smell if you don’t quiet down.” Vaughn had said, “We should just lay low until we can figure something out. I mean it’s not that bad.”

 

“Not that bad?” Shadow said before shouting, “ **HOW IS IT NOT THAT BAD!? RHYS AND I WORKED OUR ASSES TO GET THAT PROMOTION! AND WHAT THE FUCK DOES HE DO!? HE MAKES US THE FUCKING CLEAN UP CREW!!** ”

 

In a fit of rage, with one powerful kick he kicked a nearby trashcan across the hallway, which caused them to jump including a young woman with an orange collar shirt and a grey skirt and black heels jumped at this as well.

 

The trashcan had it the wall causing it to dent and for one of the plants to fall over and the dirt to spill and make a huge mess. The speaker then echoed throughout the halls.

 

“Senior Vice Janitor Rhys and Shadow to sector D451 for trash cleanup because that is your job now, to clean up with your bare hands.”

 

This had caused Shadow to literally flip off the speaker, still major pissed by what had just happened. Rhys turned to Vaughn again still pissed, “Sorry, were you saying something? Shadow kind of interrupted you.”

 

The woman who had seemed to know the people standing before her had asked, “Rhys… Why are you and Shadow cleaning up trash? I thought the two of you were getting promoted, because you two becoming  janitors seems like the opposite.”

 

Rhys had said to the woman, “What happened? Vasquez screwed us out of the promotion that’s what happened!”

 

“Vasquez?” The woman said kind of shocked, “I thought Henderson was the one in charge?”

 

“Yeah, about that…” Mion said rubbing the back of her head before saying simultaneously, “Vasquez kind of shoved Henderson into an airlock and is now currently floating outside in space.”

 

“Yup, what she said.” Vaughn had added.

 

The young woman’s eyes widened in shock, “Holy crap!” She said before turning to Rhys crossing her arms, “So… Does that mean you’re not buying?”

* * *

**_YVETTE_ **

**_RHYS’S OTHER BEST FRIEND; REQUISITIONS & LUNCH LEECH_ **

* * *

All Rhys did was glare at Yvette, and just walked passed her.

 

“Well… just trying to lighten the mood.” Yvette said.

 

“Too soon Yvette.” Mion had said to her, “Too soon.”  They started to follow Rhys. “I can see that.” She said, “But I seriously didn’t bring my wallet, so if anyone wants to pay for me than--”

 

She was cut off when Vaughn had said this, “I’ll tell you who’s going to pay. Vasquez is.”

 

Yvette gave a confused look to Vaughn, “I don’t think Vasquez is the type to--” Mion was than the one that cut off Yvette, “No, he didn’t mean like that, he meant the other kind of pay. And Vaughn you're damn right that Vasquez is going to pay.  We can’t let that dickhead get away with this, not after what he did.”

 

“You’re right.” Vaughn said to Mion, “We’ve got to do something.”

 

“Listen to yourselves you two.” Yvette said, “Vasquez just killed a guy. If anything, maybe it’s better that we lay low for a bit.”

 

“What? No way! We hit back!” Vaughn said.

 

“Vaughn is right about that!” Mion said, “Besides where Shades and I come from, when someone pushes your buttons, you hit them back, and you hit them back hard!” Rhys had then thought of an idea in his head. Shadow let out a smirk having the same idea as Rhys.

 

“Are thinking the same thing I’m thinking?” Shadow had asked him.

 

“Hell yeah, I’m thinking the same thing you are.” Rhys had said to him.

 

“What?” Mion had said getting their attention, “What are the two of you plotting?”

 

Both Rhys and Shadow turned to them and said in unison, “We steal his deal.”

 

Vaughn had agreed to that plan as did Mion. ” Vaughn had said, “That’s what I’m talking about.”

 

“Oh hells yeah!” Mion had said, “I’m down for that!”

 

“What are you talking about?” Yvette had asked them.

 

Rhys had then explained it to them, “Vasquez set up a deal on Pandora for a Vault Key.”

 

“Woah…” Was the only thing that Yvette could say. Mion had then put everything. “That must be the only reason why  Vasquez got the promotion.” She said, “If there is anything that Hyperion cares about a whole lot more than money, it’s Vault Keys.”

 

“It’s perfect!” Vaughn had said, “I mean not only do we screw over Assquez, we have a frickin’ Vault Key. What’re they worth? Like a billion dollars?”

 

“More.” Yvette said to him.

 

Shadow had then said, “There is just one problem though. We need 10 million dollars right now if we are ever going to make that deal.”

 

“Hold please.” Vaughn said.

 

He tapped a button on his glasses, to which they all heard beeping sounds; They soon realized that he was downloading money. In a matter of seconds he was finished to which he said, “Done.” This had left everyone literally speechless by what Vaughn had just did.

 

Rhys had broke the silence, “I’m not gonna lie… that was impressive.”

 

Vaughn had said, “I’m in accounting. It’s what I do. Ten million bucks in chump change around here. By the time anyone notices we’ll have a Vault Key.” Mion then stepped forward in the group and had said, “Well, Shades and I actually spent most of our lives on Pandora, and let’s face it, no offence the two of you don’t exactly know how messed up Pandora is.”

 

“I hate to say it, but Mion does have a point.” Shadow said, “You two are going to need a couple of guides.”

 

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Rhys said. They heard Yvette say to them, “Alright than, I guess you guys have a plan than. I’m gonna go get something to eat alone. Call me if you don’t kill, alright?” She was just about to go and do just that, when Vaughn called out to her, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! We need your help. We need clearance, transportation. You’re the requisitions master. We need that stuff.”

 

Rhys had then added, “Yeah, maybe a Loader Bot or two, you know, if things get dicey.”

 

Yvette however had tried to reason with them, “Look… It’s one thing stealing from a bunch of poor suckers on Pandora, you guys talking about stealing from Hyperion.”

 

“But we’re friends!” Vaughn said, “Friends help each other steal stuff. I mean that’s how it works.”

 

“Richter used to steal candy bars, and his family still doesn’t know where the body.” Yvette had said.

 

“Richter was an asshole and his family are asshole.”  Vaughn had said.

 

“Come on.” Rhys said,”I’ll buy you lunch I owe you when I get back.”

 

“Please Yvette.” Shadow said, “Just this once?” Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to change their minds, just sucked it up and said, “Fine. But you’re buying me lunch now, and when you get back.”

 

“Done.” Rhys said with a smiling.

 

“Okay.” Mion said, “With all that settled, we’ve only got a couple of hours to make the deal.”

 

“Go and withdraw the money.” Yvette told them, “I’ll get you guys clearance to Pandora, get you geared up and issue you a standard Hyperion town car.”

 

“Seriously? A standard car?” Shadow said, “You can’t upgrade it to premium or something?”

 

“Yeah, like a convertible.” Vaughn had suggested. Yvette let out a chuckle, “Sure yeah, a convertible. So just so I get this straight, you want me to get you a car to drive around Pandora that leaves you less protected right?”

 

“Trust me when I say this Yvette.” Mion said, “When you’re going to steal something, you want to do it in style.”

 

“We’re going with them to Pandora anyway.” Shadow said to her, “So I think they have enough protection.”

 

Yvette said to him, “Even so, it doesn’t hurt to be safe than it is sorry.”

 

“Don’t worry Yvette.” Rhys said, with a smirk, “I’ve already got a car in mind.”

 

After they withdraw the ten million dollars and got prepared, they soon had gone to Pandora.

 

( ** _Ending Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1_** )

 


	2. The World of Curiosities

( ** _Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1_** )

 

- ** _Sometime Ago; Pandora (Rhy’s & Shadow P.O.V)_**-

 

The moonshot cannon fired from the Helios station, and hit the ground hard killing a bandit in the process. The container opened to reveal Rhys, Vaughn, Shadow and Mion driving in Vasquez’s new black car.  They were driving through the wasteland to where they would receive the Vault Key. Shadow and Mion sat in the back seat surveying the horizon, just taking in the desert air through the open window.

 

“I never thought I would return to this hell hole of a planet.” Shadow said.

 

“You and me both Shades.” Mion said, “But despite all the bad times we had, we also had some good times too. Like, remember that one time we had competed in that Death Race?”

 

Shadow chuckled at that memory, “Oh yeah. Have to admit that was pretty fun.”

 

“Don’t get too comfortable you two.” Rhys said as he made a turn, “Remember we’re here to make the deal to get that Vault Key.”

 

“You shouldn’t worry about that too much.” Shadow told him, “Trust me when I say, when you lived almost your whole life on Pandora, you have so little memory of the good times.”

 

“Sad but true.” Mion said to Rhys, “You don’t even want to know half of the things that we went through as kids.”

 

They soon approached a town to which it had read, “Prosperity Junction” where a corpse of a Bandit had hung just under the sign. This had made Rhys and Vaughn shudder just at the thought of them being tied around a noose.

 

“Do you usually see stuff like that around Pandora?” Vaughn had asked.

 

“Yeah.” Shadow had replied, “Mostly the ones we saw here were a bit more gruesome than that.”  Rhys had said, “Yeah, I could just imagine that.”

 

“ **RHYS THE ROAD!!** ” Mion had suddenly shouted.

 

They saw what appeared to be a skag in the middle of the road. They all panicked and it caused Vaughn to shout, “ **AHHH CRAP!!** ”

 

The car hit the skag and it literally went flying over the car and landed on the ground blood came squirting out. Vaughn hit the breaks and the car came to a screeching to a halt. “Holy hell!” Rhys had exclaimed, “What the hell was that?!”

 

Vaughn was in a state of panic as well, “What did--what did we even hit? I hope that wasn’t like a really ugly person!”

 

Shadow leaned his head out the window to see what they hit, “It’s alright you two, calm down.” He reassured, “You just hit a skag.”

 

“Ugh, shhhhhcrap.” Vaughn said, “I think we-- I think we killed it.”

 

Mion had then took a look, “I think you’re right, I don’t see that skag moving. Not even so much as a twitch.”

 

Vaughn had said, “Son-of-a-bitch, that makes us murderers. Great, we’re murders now.”

 

“Well… At least it didn’t suffer.”  Rhys had said.

 

“Yeah, I guess.” Rhys’s best friend said, “Sucks though.”

 

“Yeah, sucks.” Rhys said to him. Rhys started the car again and they drove into town. It was a very small town, where there were not that many people around and a single clock tower stood within the middle of the whole town. This time they drove slowly through it. “So…” Vaughn said, “Just to be sure, what do we do if someone asks where we got the money?”

 

Rhys had asked him, “What do you mean?”

 

Vaughn had clarified, “What I mean is what do we do we tell people? We should have a story.”

 

“We’ll just say we stole it from Hyperion.” Mion had suggested.

 

“No, that’s a bad idea.” Shadow told her, “I mean technically we did steal it, but do you know how many people are still pissed at Hyperion and especially half the things Jack did when he was in charge?”

 

Mion laughed nervously, “Oh right, kind of forgot about that.”

 

Vaughn couldn’t help but ask, “So what exactly do we tell people than?”

 

Rhys had then suggest, “We could say it’s for charity.”  Shadow and Mion couldn’t help but laugh at that, “Good luck getting people to believe that.” He said to Rhys.

 

“No, no, no come on just hear me out.” He said, “We just say it’s some sort of “Open Vault for Pandorans”, kind of deal. People love stuff when it’s attached to a charity. They hardly ever question their intentions.”

 

“And like we said, good luck getting them to believe you.” The young teenage girl said with a smirk. Vaughn couldn’t help but look out the window, which he felt like regretting. He saw two men beating up another man who was defenseless and trying to defend himself from the kicks and punches.

 

“Sooo…” Vaughn said as he gulped, “That looks… not good.”

 

He saw the two men turn to Vaughn; He quickly looked away, “It’s Pandora.” Rhys said to Vaughn, “What did you expect?”

 

“And one of the rules when living here, never make eye contact with anyone that is not friendly.” Shadow said.

 

“Yeah, that’s easy for you to say.” Vaughn said to him, “And I know not to make eye contact with anyone unfriendly. But I--I guess I’m just now more acutely aware that I have 10 million dollars chained to me is all. In a neighborhood I might add of blackplanet nutjobs, no offense to you two.”

 

“None taken.” Shadow and Mion both said in unison.

 

Vaughn heaved out a sigh, “I don’t know, I’m just getting that vibe, ya know?”

 

“Just keep your eyes open for the place, okay?” Rhys said, “I don’t wanna be here any longer than we have to.”

 

“Yeah.” Vaughn said sinking into his seat.

 

“And watch the money.” He added.

 

Which made Vaughn say sarcastically, “Oh, really?” Mion gave Vaughn a pat on the head and said to him, “You shouldn’t worry too much about it Vaughn, if things do go south Yvette can just send down a Loader Bot or two.”

 

“And she did supply me and Mion with our old weapons for when we did live here.” Shadow had said. They showed them the weapons that they had; Shadow having a arondigit ***** sword which had an elemental ability added to it that rested on his back, and Mion had a gun holder that was holding an AK-47, and a large survival knife.

 

( ** _*Reference to Sir Lancelot's Sword from Sonic and the Black Knight Game_** )

 

“True, that is true.” Vaughn had said.

 

“And additionally she did give me this.” Rhys said before holding his weapon, “It’s a stun baton. I don’t know how it works but it’s definitely neat.”

 

“Yeah a stick.” Vaughn said trying to stay positive, “Neato.”

 

“Look on the bright side.” Shadow said to him, “Once we get that Vault Key back, we’ll be the ones running the goof house.”

 

“For sure!” Vaughn agreed, “We’ll be the future kings, of that place! They’ll send a crew to use the key and than we’re home free! We’ll just be kicking back on the moon beach!”

 

Mion thought of what it would look like in her mind, “I’ve always wanted to see the moon beach.”

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Rhys said, “We’ll pop champagne and everything once we get the key back.”

 

Vaughn said to him, feeling a bit positive again, “C’mon it’s in the bag.”

 

Shadow looked out of the window again, “Speaking of which, are we almost at the place yet?”

 

“Well the tracker is beeping.” Vaughn replied, “But I don’t see it anywhere.”

 

Rhys leaned forward and got a better look as he drove, “It’s the “World of Curiosities” right?”

 

“Yup that’s the one.” Mion said, “Do you see any-- **OW MY HEAD!!** ” The car came to a sudden stop which caused Mion to stumble and hit her head right on the back of Rhys’s chair. They saw a man crossing the the road and to what appeared to be a food stand. Mion slowly sat up and shouted, “Mind giving me a bit of a warning before you do that?!”

 

“Sorry, my bad.” Rhys said, “Oh, and to answer your question from before, no I don’t see it.”

 

Mion stuck her tongue out at Rhys, but gave an innocent look when he turned to look at her.

 

“We could ask one of them.” Vaughn said referring to the two men, one in front of the food stand and the other behind it, “I mean, they seem… normalish. Normalish anyway.”

 

“That doesn’t sound like a good idea.” Shadow said to him. Rhys however disagreed, “Actually that’s an excellent idea.” Which left Mion and Shadow’s jaw drop. “I thought so myself.” Vaughn said. They both left the car leaving Shadow and Mion the only ones in there. Eventually they let out a sigh and Shadow had said, “Come on Mion. We better make sure that they don’t get themselves killed.”

 

“My thoughts exactly.” Mion said. And thus they both got out of the car and followed behind Rhys and Vaughn.

 

They approached the man at the food stand who was selling food made of skags. “Excuse me sir.” Rhys said getting the man’s attention and crossing his arms, “Do you know where the “World of Curiosities” is?” The man didn’t answer, and just went back to cooking the food.

 

“It should be around here.” Vaughn had said.

 

“You four lost?” The man had finally said, “What are you here for?”

 

Shadow had answered, “We’re just here for a business deal. Signing papers, and than we’ll be out here, you know that kind of business.”

 

The man turned his eyes to the suitcase, “Do you mean those papers kid?”

 

“Yup.” He had replied before mumbling to himself, “In a matter of speaking.”

 

Rhys had removed both of his arms from his chest, and the man noticed the logo on his vest. “Your from Hyperion?”

 

“Uh-oh.” Mion had said when she saw the man pull out a butchers knife that was stained in blood, “I was hoping he wouldn’t notice.”

 

The man stepped away from the food stand, “You egg-suckers ruined this town, you know that? Atlas were bastards but at least they had the good sense to fail. When Jack came around he turned everything to smoke.”

 

Rhys had then tried to convince the guy, “Listen, all we want are directions, after that we’ll be gone.”

 

“Gone, huh?” He said. He then turned to Vaughn, “Hey, little man.” He said throwing his butcher’s knife on the food stand, “What’s in the case?”

 

Vaughn started to back from him, “Hey, kitty cat.” The man said, “Show us what’s in the case.”

 

Rhys stepped right in front of Vaughn and the man stopped in place. The man was about to hit Rhys in the face, that was until he felt a gun to his head and what appeared to be a blade right at his neck.

 

“Back off you little grease monkey.” Shadow had said with a stern look.

 

“If you don’t want to see your brains all over the floor than back away.” Mion had added.

 

The man said nothing and just walked away, as Shadow and Mion drew back their weapons. Rhys had then said, “Look, just tell us where we can find the World of Curiosities before my two friends… get… all…bent… huuuohhh…”

 

Rhys started to lose his words when several bandits appeared from out of nowhere surrounding them.

 

“Son-of-a-taint.” Shadow couldn’t help but say.

 

“Is there… Like a… Convention or something…” Vaughn said nervously.

 

“At this point I wished it was a convention right now.” Mion said, arming her gun again.

 

“Great.” Rhys said as they started to back up, “Bandits…”

 

The man who owned the little food stand, had but on a helmet of some kind, and armed himself with his butchers knife again. “You know what we got here?” He said to the Bandits, “We got a couple of Hyperion warmongers, gentlemen.”

 

Mion had then said to Rhys, “I think now would be a good time to get the bot.”

 

“Yeah.” Vaughn said, “Bot. Yvette. Prime it.”

 

Rhys nodded his head and quickly called Yvette; Luckily she was quick to pick up the phone.  

 

“Already?” Yvette said, “Really? “

 

“This is really urgent Yvette.” Rhys said, “We need a Loader Bot here, and we need it now.”

 

“Why? What’s going on?”

 

“Nevermind that! Just send it in now!”

 

“Alright, okay. Just do me a favor and don’t go bananas. Things like this aren’t cheap you know.”

 

The minute Rhys got the what he needed for the loader bot he had launched it from the station.

 

The man and the Bandits continued to approach them as they started to back up, “And do you know what we do to warmongers like you people? Time to clock in.”

 

One of the Bandits had shouted, “ **YEEEEEHAAWWW!!** ”

 

The man had said, “Here’s how it’s going to go. You’re either going to hand over that or you’re handing over your heads. Your choice.”

 

Vaughn had said, “Look guys, let’s just talk about this.”

 

“They’re not in the mood to talk Vaughn!” Shadow had said to him. The Bandits had started to approach them, with their guns armed and ready, when all of a sudden everyone had jumped by the sudden package which had landed on top of one of the Bandits, making a loud squishy noise when it had landed on him. Everyone was even the Bandits had their jaws dropped by what had just happened.

 

“Ooh.” Rhys said breaking the silence, “Got quiet all of a sudden.”

 

The package unraveled itself revealing to be, what Rhys ordered, a Loader Bot. All it said was “Hi.” Everyone continued to stay silent and they couldn’t help but turn each other, that is until one of the Bandits shouted, “ **KILL’EM ALL!!** ” All of them took cover as the Bandits started to fire at them.

 

Rhys took cover behind a crate while Vaughn took cover behind the car; Mion took cover behind a nearby a barrel. Shadow however charged at the Bandits killing some with a slash of his sword. More Bandits started to charge at him with knives and such; Shadow started to dodge the attacks the Bandits charged at him. Mion would pop up from behind the barrel from time to time and fire at the Bandits killing most of them.

 

Most of fire was on them and the Loader Bot.

 

“Why isn’t it doing anything?!” Vaughn had shouted over to Rhys.

 

“Angry eyes detected.” They heard the Loader Bot say, “Awaiting instructions.”

 

“It only does what I tell it to!” Rhys had said to Vaughn.

 

Vaughn saw both Shadow and Mion trying to hold their own against the Bandits; they were both receiving cuts and grazes from bullets and knives. Mion and to move from her cover spot, and started to use her knife against them.

 

“Well, tell it to do something!” Vaughn had shouted over to Rhys, “Or they’ll end up dead!”

 

“Alright, I got it!” Rhys had shouted to Vaughn before he shouted to Loader Bot, “ **LOADER BOT! ATTACK THE BANDITS!!** ”

 

“Acknowledged.” The Loader Bot had said, “Engaging target.”

 

The Loader Bot armed itself with a machine gun and started to fire at the Bandits that were firing at the Loader Bot itself. All of them ended up dead with every single shot. A Bandit had then jumped on the Bots arm and tried to fire at it head on, but it managed to throw the Bandit off and fired at it killing him.

 

Shadow and Mion had finished killing the Bandits that had surrounded them; their clothing just stained with mostly the Bandits blood. “Huh?” Mion said fixing up her hair a little, “What do you know, we still got it.”

 

“Yeah.” Shadow said catching his breath, “Who knew.” Shadow’s eyes widened when saw a huge Bandit took the the food stand and lifted it over his head, “ **GET DOWN!!** ” He shouted pushing Mion to the side causing her to scream with surprise; Shadow had quickly jumped towards the opposite side as the food stand was thrown towards them.

 

The Bandit than towered over Shadow with what appeared to be a buzz ax in his hand. He swung it towards him and Shadow blocked it with his sword; the buzz ax was getting closer to his face. “ **SHADOW!!** ” Mion had shouted, getting Rhys’s attention.

 

“That’s not good.” He said before shouting, “ **LOADER BOT HELP HIM!!** ”  Loader Bot armed itself with missiles from it’s shoulders after it killed the Bandits that were on top of him. It fired towards the giant Bandit getting him off of Shadow. Loader Bot fired again and this time he got stuck in a nearby porta-potty. The Loader Bot armed himself with a machine gun and fired a million times until he was dead. Shadow got up and turned to Rhys, “Thanks for that!”

 

“No problem!” Rhys had said.

 

The man from before ran towards the car that Vaughn had took cover behind. He grabbed the case from him. “I’ll be taking this!” He said as he got in. There was just one problem though; Vaughn was still handcuffed to the case.

 

Vaughn shouted as the car started to drive, “ **AHHH!! RHYS!! GUYS!! OH SHI--HELP!! I’M ATTACHED TO A MOVING VEHICLE!! STOP HIM!!** ”

 

They all saw this and shouted in unison, “ **VAUGHN!!** ”

 

“ **HOLD ON VAUGHN I’M COMING!!** ” Mion shouted. She jumped on one crate to the next and then with one leap she jumped on to the car. Only for her to lose her balance and fall right on the ceiling. She held on for dear life while also dodging blades that cut through the metal ceiling. “ **AH GUYS SITUATION! HELP!!** ” Mion had soon started to shout.

 

“ **GOD-DAMN IT MION!!** ” Shadow shouted to her.

 

Rhys had then said, “Alright new plan… **LOADER BOT! GO GET THE CAR!!** ”

 

The Loader Bot had acknowledged the information, “Stop. Thieves.” The Loader Bot had said. Rhys quickly ran following behind the Loader Bot, and Shadow not to far away. A bus had then pulled into the road. Guns pointed from cracks in of the windows of the bus had started to fire. Rhys dodged as he ran, soon he ran behind Loader Bot. However that was short lived when Loader Bot jumped over the bus.

 

Rhys let out a surprised scream and found himself dancing over the raining bullets. Once again that was short lived when he felt Shadow grab his arm and pull him into the alleyway nearby.  “You alright Rhys?” Shadow had asked him.

 

“Yeah, thanks.” Rhys said to him, “Can we cut them off here?”

 

“We can!” Shadow told him, “Follow me!”

 

They both ran through the alleyway and quickly turned the corner, only to be stopped by--

 

“ **DIE NOW!!** ” A Bandit shouted.

 

“ **RHYS LOOK OUT!!** ” Shadow had shouted quickly pushing him to the side he quickly blocked the attack with his sword, but was quickly disarmed. With just one slash Shadow had cried out in pain when a wound managed to get him on the shoulder.

 

“ **SHADOW!!** ” Rhys yelled.

 

“ **GAH! SON OF A TAINT!!** ” Shadow had shouted as he fell on his knees.

 

The Bandit lifted his weapon and prepared to attack him and shouted, “ **I’M GONNA COOK YOU!!** ” Rhys acted fast and pulled Shadow to the side before the buzz axe could hit him.

 

“You alright?!” Rhys yelled to him.

 

“I guess I’m a bit out of practice.” Shadow said with a small smile, before yelling, “ **BUZZ AXE!!** ” They both quickly moved to the both sides as the Bandit swung the buzz axe getting the weapon stuck into the wall. Rhys proceeded to punch the Bandit right in the face, but soon came to regret it when his hand hurt. The Bandit had proceed to punch him in the stomach where he saw that the baton that Yvette had provided for him had fallen out.

 

He quickly had a grab for it and struggled to turn it on. “RHYS!” Shadow had shouted. The Bandit was about to attack, just when Rhys found the button. He turned it on and the minute he did, the Bandit went flying into a building causing Shadow to quickly move.

 

Shadow had a shocked look on his face at the strength the baton had possessed; He was at a loss for words by what he saw as was Rhys.

 

Rhys had then said, “Huh, interesting.”

 

Another Bandit came running. Shadow picked up his sword and they prepared to run, only to be stopped by another Bandit, that swung his axe. Shadow blocked it with his sword and turned on one of the elemental his sword had provided which was electricity. The Bandit continued to swing at Shadow, and despite his injury, he managed to stun the Bandit with a single cut on his leg, which shocked him.

 

“ **RHYS! NOW!** ”

 

Rhys nodded and swung the baton towards the Bandit, which caused him to fly towards the wall which killed him. “Huh… Alright.” He said. They continued to run down the alleyway, only to be stopped by another Bandit. As well as another huge Bandit came towards them.

 

Rhys acted fast; He hit the corpse of the Bandit they killed not too long ago making the larger Bandit trip and fall on his face. Shadow charged at the Bandit and hit him with the sword stunning him since it was still on the element of electricity, making him ram into the wall and with one last swing and just flipped the Bandit.

 

The larger Bandit got up and walked towards them slowly. Rhys attempted to hit him with the stun baton but no matter how many time he’d hit the Bandit he just wouldn’t go down. The Bandit grabbed a hold of Rhys’s neck and slammed him against the wall.

 

Shadow had attempt to hit the Bandit with his sword after he turned off the element of electricity, however the Bandit caught hold of the blade and throw Shadow against the wall making him cry out in pain on impact.

 

Rhys had then saw the weak point of the Bandit. He shoved the baton right into his face and electricity just went through the Bandits body. The Bandit dropped Rhys and stumbled before falling over; Luckily Rhys moved quick before the body could land on him. He ran over to Shadow and helped him off the ground, “Yup, I’m still a bit rusty.” Shadow said as he stood up.

 

“Come on!” Rhys said and they both made their up a nearby staircase. They both got high enough to see that the Loader Bot had caught the car but they didn’t see Mion or Vaughn at the car.

 

Shadow had called out, “ **MION! VAUGHN! WHERE ARE YOU!?** ”

 

The man from before with the Butcher’s knife, had approached them.

 

* * *

 

**_RUDIGER_ **

**_KILL’EM AND GRILL EM_ **

* * *

 

“What did you do with Vaughn and Mion?” Rhys had said to him.

 

“How the hell should I know?” Rudiger had said, “Your bot frickin’ bot threw all three of us out! Now the both of you kindly stand still and die.” He ran towards them, about to swing his butchers knife, but Rhys swung his baton and the butchers knife flew right into a Bandits head killing him.

 

Rudiger backed up slowly with his arms up. All Rhys did was tap him with the stun baton and he went flying right bill board which fell over. Behind the billboard it was revealed what they were looking for. The World of Curiosities.

 

“Huh…” Shadow said, “Now that’s convenient.”

 

“That’s all we wanted to know.” Rhys said, “We could’ve avoided all of this.”

 

“Ow.” They heard the Loader Bot say.

 

They want towards the balcony and saw Loader Bot in a pinch.

 

“Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.” Rhys said, “Loader Bot. Put the car down.”

 

“Sure thing.” Loader Bot had said.

 

He threw the car towards the car killing many. “Bandits imminent.” The Loader Bot said. Rhys and Shadow jumped from the building and landed on the ground. They found Mion and Vaughn hiding behind a light post. They both sighed with relief when they saw that they were both safe. They quickly went behind Loader Bot as the Bandit continued to fire.

 

“Why the hell isn’t the Loader Bot firing!?” Mion had shouted.

 

They heard the Loader Bot say, “Weapons subsystem requires your attention.”

 

“Rhys! Do something!” Vaughn had shouted.

 

“Okay, let’s improvise!” Rhys said and quickly the schematics of the Loader Bot. “What are you doing?” Shadow had asked Rhys over the gunshots. “Giving the bot an upgrade.” He replied.

 

He quickly went to the weapons and made the necessary upgrades to the Loader Bot.

 

Once he was done and the Loader Bot had said, “Circumstances… Analyzed. Engaging… Disproportionate response mode.” The Loader Bot got out the machine gun and started to fire on the many Bandits. The Bot equipped itself with missiles and started to spin and fire on the many Bandits that had surrounded them.

 

Rhys couldn’t help but shout, “THIS THING IS AMAZING!!” They all stayed low as the Loader Bot continued to fire. Soon enough all the Bandits were dead and everything was quiet and some fell from the sky.

 

Loader Bot couldn’t help but say, “Fatality.”

 

However this was short lived when they saw more Bandits coming there way.

 

“ **OH COME ON!!** ” Rhys couldn’t help shout.

 

“ **I THINK I SPEAK FOR ALL WHEN I SAY, LET’S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!** ” Shadow had yelled. The Bandits started to fire as they ran towards the entrance of the World of Curiosities. They tried to open the gate but it didn’t budge. “ **SON OF A BITCH!!** ” Mion shouted, “ **AS IF WE DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH PROBLEMS!!** ”

 

“How are we supposed to get inside now?!” Vaughn had said.

 

Before Rhys could come up with an idea, Loader Bot had lifted Vaughn and Rhys up over the gate. “That could work.” Rhys had said.

 

The Loader Bot had then lifted Shadow and Mion up and over the gate. After the Loader Bot did that he gave a thumbs up to them. “Thanks alot Loader Bot.” Rhys had said. Just than a Bandit jumped right onto the Loader Bot.

 

“Wait, what?” The Loader Bot said, “This is totally uncool.”

 

The Loader Bot did it’s best to shake off the Bandits but it was to no avail. The Bandits shot on the Bot’s legs causing it to fall.

 

“Help. Please.” Loader Bot had pleaded. The Bandit grabbed it’s arm and ripped it clean off.  

 

“ **LOADER BOT! NO!** ” Mion had shouted.

 

“Rhys tell it to run!” Vaughn had said.

 

Rhys nodded and said, “Loader Bot, get out of there!”

 

They heard Loader Bot say, “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” Thus Loader Bot flew away, with a single arm and leg; The Loader Bot shook the Bandits off killing them and flew off into the distance. The four of them caught their breath after what had just happened. “I will name my first born Loader Bot.” They heard Rhys said, earning him a look. Rhys noticed this and quickly said, “Well you know, probably not.”

 

“I… I can’t believe we’re alive.” Vaughn said, “I mean, I--I never wanna see somebody’s brains come out of their nose, not ever again. That… that was the single scariest experience in my life!”

 

“Welcome to our world Vaughn…” Shadow said before groaning in pain.

 

Mion noticed the injury and said, “Shades your hurt.”

 

Shadow had said, “Yeah, a Bandit managed to get the drop on me. Damn it hurts…”

 

“You’ll be okay though right?” Rhys had asked.

 

“Yeah I’ll be fine, besides…” Shadow said before pointing to his eye, “I suffered from worse remember?”  

 

Mion ripped up a part of her jacket and used it as a makeshift bandage for the wound on his shoulder. Mion had finished patching his wound and she helped him stand up. “It’s not much but it’s gonna have to do for now.” Mion said.  “Thanks.” He said to her.

 

“It’s what friends are for, right?” She said to him with a smile.

 

“Alright now that’s out of the way.” Rhys had started to say, “Let’s find this August guy, buy the Vault Key and…”

 

His words trailed off again when they finally got a look at the World of Curiosities. There was all kinds of beast of Pandora as far as the eye can see. They couldn’t help but stare in awe at the many creatures that were before them.

 

“...And get the hell out of here.” Rhys had finished.

 

None of them wanted to walk through but they had no choice, if they ever hope to find the exit to whatever they were looking at.  They walked down the museum until they reached a man with a megaphone sticking out of his stomach, which made them all shudder.

 

“Okay…” Vaughn said feeling sick to his stomach, “That’s just messed up.”

 

“Who the hell is this?” Mion couldn’t help but ask.

 

Shadow proceeded to use his ECHOeye to scan the man on the chair. “His name is Professor Penumbra.” He replied to Mion to answer her question.

 

“Never heard of him.” Rhys said, “But why the hell does he have a Megaphone sticking out of his stomach?”

 

“No idea.” Vaughn told him, “And I don’t really want to have to think about it. I mean stuffed animals is one thing, but this is taking a turn I really don’t want it too.”

 

They jumped when a sudden voice turned on the megaphone.

 

“Right this way to the world famous Hall of Pandoran Luminaries. Come and face to face with icons of the planet’s turbulent history… and hear how each met their grisly fate.”

 

They turned to where the sign had pointed, just down the hall; all of them equally realizing it was the only way out. They jumped again when the megaphone turned on again.

 

“Please watch your step and marvel at some of the unexpected ends of life’s grand design.”

 

Mion let out a groan, “Do we have to go through there?”

 

Rhys had replied, “There’s no where else to go. Let’s just go through it.”

 

“Alright than.” Shadow said, “Let’s get this over with.” They went down the hallway and through the human gallery. They passed several people including a man who looked very odd looking whose name was the same as Shadow’s nickname, Shade or at least that was what the voice had told them.

 

It was until they noticed a man in particular. “Hey guys look.” Shadow said pointing to the man, “Isn’t that Professor Nakayama?”

 

Rhys and Vaughn got a better look at the man. “Oh hey you're right. It is him!” Vaughn said.

 

“Oh yeah, I remember this guy.” Rhys said, “He was an asshole.”

 

The person started to explain who Nakayama was.

 

“Formally a scientific researcher who worked for Hyperion, Professor Nakayama was obsessed with cloning Handsome Jack, who carried a certain fondness for. Killed by stairs.”

 

Mion couldn’t help but laugh at that, which earned her a look from each of them. “Mion!” Shadow had said getting her to stop laughing. “I’m sorry!” Mion said trying to stop laughing, “But a guy like him, dying by stairs that’s just--!” She continued to laugh falling to her knees; letting eyes squeeze out tears from her laughter. All Shadow could do was shake his head and attempted to get her to stop laughing.

 

Vaughn turned to Rhys who seemed unamused by this. “No witty rejoinder?” Vaughn had asked, “You must be more traumatized than I am.”

 

Rhys had than noticed something, “Looks like he still has his Hyperion ID chip.” By this time Mion had finally stopped laughing and stood up. “Does he really?” She asked.

 

“Looks like it.” Shadow had said, after he saw where the ID chip was.

 

“In that case, let’s keep it!” Vaughn had suggested, “Hyperion pays out a nice bonus for recovering those things.”

 

“Good point.” Shadow had said, and took the chip from Nakayama, making a gun that laid on his shoulder and fell over. “Ooops.” He said as he placed the chip in his jacket pocket. They soon approached the door that was at the end of the hallway. They tried to open the door only to realize that it was--

 

“Oh come on!” Shadow said, “It’s locked!”

 

“Locked!? What do you mean locked!?” Mion said.

 

“That’s what I said.” He said, “The doors locked.”

 

“Oh come on, are you serious?” Vaughn said before checking it himself by knocking.

 

Rhys had said, “This feels like we came in the back, so maybe there’s a front door somewhere?”

 

“Yeah but…” Vaughn had said, “I don’t know if we can get out there with the murders all over the place.” Shadow turned back to the many bodies that were in the gallery. “Call me crazy, but maybe one of them have the key to this door.”

 

“You could be right.” Rhys said to him, “Maybe we just missed it.”

 

Mion had then said, “So if I’m hearing you correctly, you’re saying if we look hard enough we’ll just miraculously find a key on one of them?”

 

“Yup.” Both Rhys and Shadow said in unison. She dropped her arms to her sides, “Okay, let’s try it.” She said.

 

“Yeah, I guess it could work.” Vaughn said, “I mean to just randomly find a key, I mean that would be amazing.”

 

“Okay, let’s get to searching.” Rhys had said. Thus they went to looking for the key. They went down passed the people within the gallery of people. They passed by Nakayama and Shade, but there was just one problem.

 

“Umm…” Mion said, “Wasn’t there a person in here just a minute ago?”

 

Rhys and Shadow both looked where Shade was. “What the hell?” Rhys said, “Where did he--”

 

All of a sudden someone just jumped out from behind a pillar causing all them to scream.

 

“HI!” was all he shouted.

* * *

 

**_SHADE_ **

**_NOT IN THE LEAST BIT INSANE_ **

* * *

 

He jumped right in front of them. “How are you all?” He asked them. They caught breaths after they suffered from their trauma. “ **NOT GREAT!** ” Vaughn said to him. Shade had said to them, “We’ll ain’t you four the handsomest and prettiest devils I’ve seen in ages!” Rhys, Vaughn and Shadow jumped when Mion had slapped him right across the face. “ **YOU IDIOT!** ” Mion shouted, “ **DON’T GO SCARING PEOPLE LIKE THAT!!** ”

 

“Okay, okay, okay!” Shade said as he rubbed his cheek, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you guys. It just… It just happened, you know, things happen, they happen!”

 

“ **DIDN’T MEAN TO SCARE US MY ASS!!** ” Mion continued to shout, “ **YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE DIDN’T YOU!?!** ” Shadow immediately went to calm her down when she was about to slap him again. “Mion you need to calm down now.” He said to her, “Taking out on this defenseless man isn’t going to solve anything.”

 

Vaughn couldn’t help but ask Shade as he stammered, “What--what is this, is this part of the-- like some kind of ride or something?” Vaughn was of course talking about what they just walked through, he continued, “Since the moment we walked in, it’s been one freaky puppet show, so I--”

 

“Thanks!” Shade suddenly said cutting him off, surprising the four. He introduced himself to them, “I’m Shade and this… Is my World of Curiosities! Let me tell you right off the very bat, I am deeply sorry that you strapping young threshers like yourselves here have to witness it in such sad disrepair. Time can take a toll you know. And on one more things than one! But unfortunately we’re closed for renovations, but that doesn’t mean you guys can leave, I mean we can do other things. I mean you’re already here so we could… Hang out.”

 

Rhys let out a sigh, “Listen here Shade.” He started to say, “We’re here to make a deal, alright? We’re buying something… Valuable. You know anything about that?”

 

They saw Shade smile, “I know a lot of things about a lot of things, and this thing in particular.” He said, “You guys are Hyperion right? Here for August?”

 

“That’s right.” Shadow had told him.

 

Shade had said, “Well if you guys gonna buy something strange and illegal, this is certainly the place to do it!”

 

He went to the door and opened it. They turned to Rhys and all he did was shrug his shoulders. They all stayed silent and went through the door to follow Shade.

  
( ** _Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace_** )   


	3. The Deal

_**(Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1)** _

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; World of Curiosities (Rhys & Shadow’s P.O.V)_**-

They followed Shade further into the World of Curiosities where they would get the Vault Key from a man named August. As they walked in Shade had said, “My grandpappy, he’s the one who came up with this place. He was a real thinker, you know, a real lover for animals. Still is, actually because he’s definitely not dead! But the place itself--”

He was cut off when they heard another man’s voice; it was the very same voice that Rhys and Shadow heard when he called Vasquez.

“What happened?” He said, “You get stuck in traffic?”

They turned to see him sitting at a table, with a woman with short dreadlock hair who was leaning on the table with a gun in her hand. Judging from the voice they concluded that it was the man named August. The man named August had said, “You Hyperion guys are usually so punctual. Gettin’ 10 million together can’t be too much trouble for you guys.”

Rhys had said to him, “I figured you’d want to take the tour, maybe get here a little early.”

“Early?” August said, “You think I like being here, you think this is fun? I mean have any of you guys seen the bathroom yet? Every minute in this horror factory is like an hour.”

“Alright than.” Shade said, “Well… I’ll just leave you to your business things then.”

With that Shade took his leave, and August introduced himself to them, “I’m August.” He said, “But I figure you guys already knew that.”

* * *

 

**_AUGUST_ **

**_THE GUY WITH THE KEY_ **

* * *

 

Shadow had noticed that the girl was looking at him and Mion funny. Of course he figured that she found it strange at the fact that two teenagers were working with Hyperion, but he couldn’t blame her for thinking that. All Shadow did was tilt his head when he looked at her. She turned her attention away from him and Mion.

August had then asked, “So uh… Is Vasquez coming?”  

“Vasquez?” Rhys had said with a smirk, “He was just the go-between, the middle man.”

“The puppet, the pigeon.” Vaughn had added.

“Stop.” Rhys said to Vaughn, “I’m the one buying the Key.”

“Yeah?” August had said to him, “Well… I guess… As long as you got the money… One Hyperion bootlicker’s as good as another. So what’s your name? Just so we’re on equal footing.”

“You want my name?” Rhys said, “My name’s Ten Million Dollars for all you should care. You’re a Vault Key to me, ‘kay? That’s me!”

This Shadow and Mion to slap themselves in the face while everyone else just stood there dumbfounded. “Damn it Rhys…” Shadow mumbled to himself with an unamused look, “Don’t make yourself look like a fool…”

“And I thought Jack’s jokes were bad…” Mion had added with her hand over her mouth.

August rubbed both of his eyes, “Look.” He said, “I don’t what the hell you think you’re doing, but this is not how I operate, alright? I expected Vasquez, and I got you.”

“Yeah!” The woman said.

“So let’s all get friendly real fast.” He said before turning to the woman, “Aren’t I trying? Huh? Aren’t I trying?”

“You’re trying.” The woman said.

August had said to Rhys, “So… Let’s try this again. I’m August. What’s yours?”

Rhys still feeling confident had said, “You can pout all you want. You’re not getting my name.”

Shadow rolled his eyes, “Well things are just going smoothly.” Shadow said with sarcasm.  

Mion had whispered to Shadow, “I think this whole thing is starting to get into his head.”

He whispered back again with sarcasm, “Oh really? What was your first clue?” They heard August clear his throat, “Just… Sit down.” He said taking his seat, “Let’s do this so we can get on with our lives.”

Rhys took his seat while the others stood by his side; Vaughn mentally complained that there wasn’t any other seat.

“Okay, let’s see the money.” August said to them.

Rhys shook his head and said to him, “No uh, uh. We know how these deals work.”

Shadow had added, “First show us the key, then you’ll get the money.”

“Yeah!” Mion and Vaughn both said in unison.

August cracked a smile, “So the baby wants it’s bottle? Alright, fine.” He picked up the case that sat on the side and carefully placed it on the table. He opened it up and they were in awe when they saw the Vault Key shine with Iridium.

“Woah…” Mion said at a loss for words.

“You ever see anything so pretty in your miserable lives?” August had asked them, “This thing will practically dance at your wedding. It’s state of the art alien crap. I’d use it myself but… You know… Monsters and all.”

“It’s goddamn gorgeous.” Rhys said, to which August had added, “Friggin’ A right, it is.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth.” Shadow had said.

August put his hands together and leaned back in his chair, “Okay, so… the way I, ah, usually do these things is--”

The woman cut August off when she suddenly slammed the case shut and said, “Wait!” Which made everyone slightly jump. August turned to her, “What?” Shadow saw the look in her eyes as she said, “IIIII… Just don’t like it. I got a--I gotta feeling.”

Shadow raised his eyebrow when he saw this kind of behavior. “ ** _Somethings not right…_** ” He thought to himself. “What feeling?” Vaughn had asked her.

“Look.” She said to August, “You said when I get a feeling about something that I should tell you that we should walk away, right?”

“What are you feeling right now?” August said to her, “We’re almost done!”

“I get intuitions about this stuff!” She said.

“Is she okay?” Rhys couldn’t help but ask August.

“Yeah, yeah… She’s just freaking out.” He replied to Rhys, “She does that sometimes.”

Than she did something unexpected; she grabbed the case which sat on the table. August got up from his seat. “Sasha!” He said to the woman, “What the hell are you--”

The woman who was named Sasha had said as she backed up with the case behind her back, “I just--I just don’t like it! They’ve had this… dumb attitude on their dumb faces since the moment they walked in!”

Mion saw the look that Shadow had on his face. “Shades?” Mion whispered, “What is it?”

Shadow’s eyes wandered to the case that was behind Sasha’s back. “There’s something not right about this…” He whispered back, “I can’t say for sure, but she’s hiding something. It’s got something to do with that key…”

“What do you mean?” She asked him.

Shadow said nothing but thought to himself, “ ** _This deal… The way she’s acting… Could it be…_** ”  

“What are you talking about!?” He heard August say.

“He’s been a giant dick this entire time!” Sasha had said just out of the blue, “And… Why wouldn’t they show you the money huh?! What’s up with that!?”

“You’re lying.” Shadow had said out of the blue which caused everyone to turn to him.

“What?” Sasha said to him.

“This whole time you’ve been lying.” Shadow had clarified, “All your doing is just say stuff you’ve been thinking at the top of your head.”

Sasha immediately said, “I’m not!”

“There it is.” He said, “You did it again. What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything!”

“Stop trying to talk you’re out of it. I can tell that you’re hiding something.”

Rhys had then said, “Hey, Sasha right? You’re making a big mistake here. This money we’re offering is life changing and it’s right here in this case. I know you don’t trust Hyperion.”

“Yeah, you think?” Sasha said to him.

Rhys continued to say, “And I know you have zero reason to trust us… But I’m telling you… We’re not like those assholes. In fact we’re trying to get back at one of the worst assholes up there and we need that key to do it. So please, take the money and let us screw over one of the biggest jerks on Hyperion. Please?”

Everyone was pretty much silent by what Rhys had said. “Wow…” Mion said breaking the silence, “That was deep.”

Sasha had then said, “So what you’re trying to say is that this key will get used to screw over some wretched Hyperion stooge?”

“That’s exactly what we’re saying.” Vaughn had said.

Sasha had thought about it but eventually let out a smile, “Alright, I’m sold.”

“Great!” Mion said with a smile, “So let’s finish up this deal shall we?”

August had said, “Well… Just, wait, just wait.”

“August.” Sasha said to him, “Everything is fine now.” She handed the case back to him. “I mean…” August had said, “I don’t know if you really think…”

“No, no, it’s okay.” Sasha had said, “The feelings gone August. Let’s go do the deal.”

August was starting to have second thoughts about the whole thing. “I dunno. Maybe today’s not right for this.” He said, “If things are weird. I mean if you have a feeling about this than…”

“No, no, no. I was wrong.” Sasha said, “We should definitely do it.”

Rhys had said, “The bad feeling is gone now August. She said so herself. We still got a deal here. There’s no problem, let’s just--”

Rhys was cut off by August, “No I’m---I’m sorry guys. I was--- I thought I was gonna deal with Vasquez and… Now this I just… I think we should just call it off until I think things are square. Maybe another time fellas.”

He was walking away as Sasha followed behind him, “Hon, we’re here now. We should just do this. Really.”

“Nah I made up my mind.” He said to her.

“Hey! August! Wait a minute!” Mion had shouted to him.

Vaughn had turned to Rhys, “Rhys this is your department! Do something!” Rhys at first honestly didn’t know what to do as they made their way towards the door. He struggled to think of something to stop them until finally he thought of what to do. All Rhys did was give Shadow, Mion and Vaughn a look and they understood what he was going to do.  

“August.” Rhys said getting his attention. August stopped and took a moment to shake his head. He approached him as August turned to him, “Actually, that’s okay. You don’t know it yet.”

“Know what?” August asked him.

“That this is it.” Rhys said as he started to circle August, “You can’t see that one day… maybe ten years from now, maybe ten months, maybe tomorrow… you’re gonna think back on right now and scream to the stars for mercy of death just so you’ll not have to live wondering of what could’ve been.”

August placed the case down and sat down with his hands in his hair.

Rhys continued, “‘What if I seized that chance by the throat, what if I had beaten my fears, taken what was rightfully mine? What if… What if I had won?””

August was pretty much crying at that point; He said with his voice cracking, “I am a winner! I… Am… A… Winner!”

Mion couldn’t help but chuckle by what had just happened, she whispered, “He’s got it in the bag.” And all Shadow did was shake his head and say, “You overdid it…” Rhys stood proudly and felt as though a million people were cheering clapping and chanting his name. August got out the Vault Key and handed it to Rhys.

Rhys had it in the air like he was holding the world in the palm of his hand and---

* * *

 

_What a steaming load of skag crap!_

**I don’t remember that happening.**

* * *

 

- ** _Present_** -

Rhys found himself out of his fantasy and back into reality where he had just remembered that he and Shadow were both getting dragged by a man armed himself with a shotgun and intimidating. They were both being dragged towards where the deal took place; The World of Curiosities.

“I did say you were overdoing it…” Shadow said.

Rhys ignored what he said and picked up his head to glare at a young woman with a black bowler hat with short brown hair and dark grey eyes with a small amount of hair dyed with pink; she wore a black and grey jacket wearing a pair of grey pants and brown boots. Under her jacket she wore a red corset with a white collar.

Next to her was a young preteen with shoulder length lavender hair which was braided _ *****_ and a pair of magenta eyes. She wore a dress with black shorts; one side she had a long baggy sleeve and she had a short sleeve on the other was short, revealing light blue tattoos similar to a Sirens markings and not only that there were markings on both of her legs as well. Her dress was of a mahogany color but the long baggy sleeve was dark green and she had a black choker around her neck and she wore a pair of black ankle boots as well.

 

**( _*There's a reason for this, trust me we'll get to it._ ) **

 

Rhys had said as the person dragged them over to them, “Well, well, well, look who decided to show her face. I was about to get to my favorite part, you know where you come in and ruin my life you no class, scheming, Pandora scum!”

“Hey!” Shadow said with a pissed off look on his face, “I find that insulting you know!”

“Oh, nice haircut you lying Hyperion scum!” The woman said.

“It IS a nice haircut!” Rhys shouted to her. She started to kick dirt at Rhys as the person stopped dragging him and Shadow.

“ **OH SHUT UP!** ” She shouted.

Shadow turned away as Rhys tried to avoid the dirt, “ **STOP IT! YOU’RE GETTING DIRT IN MY EYE!!** ”

The girl with lavender hair had said, “Big sister stop it! Don’t be mean to them!!”

“I’m not being mean to them!” She said to her, “I’m just being mean to the jackass that had the nerve to tell a lie!!”

* * *

 

**_FIONA_ **

**_THE CON ARTIST_ **

* * *

 

The girl with the lavender hair made a pouty face as she said, “You shouldn’t say stuff like that big sister! I don’t want to have to get angry but if you keep being mean to them, I’ll get really, really, really mad and hurt somebody!”

* * *

 

**_PLUTIA_ **

**_SIREN/YOUNGEST CON-ARTIST & FIONA’S KID SISTER_ **

* * *

 

Shadow had said as he coughed out a bit of dirt that managed to get into his mouth and said, “Okay, the last thing we need is for you to get mad, and have y ** _ou-know-who_** come out and bash in a few heads. So Fiona please just for everyone’s sake here, stop kicking dirt at Rhys.

Fiona stopped but she still had that angry look in her eye.

Rhys coughed out dirt and said, “And for one thing I’m not lying okay? I’m… embellishing. And more importantly how the hell do you two know about anyway?! You both weren’t at the deal!”

“They were Rhys.” Shadow said, “They were…”

“Wait really?” He asked the teen.

“What do you think I was trying to tell you then?” He said to him.

“He is right.” Fiona said, “Plutia and I were there you dope. I can’t believe your friend manages to figure it out then but you didn’t even now. I knew you were dense from the moment I--”

They were cut off when the person fired a shot in the air, causing Plutia to let out a small scream and for Shadow to squeeze his eyes shut, while Rhys and Fiona jumped at the sound. The person turned to her and Plutia.

“It’s your turn now.” He said to the two of them.

“Our turn?” Plutia said with confusion, “What do you mean?”

“Tell me your side of the deal.” He clarified.

“You couldn’t have asked us that first?” She said, “You kidnapped me and Plutie ***** hours ago!”

( ** _*Plutia’s nickname, as a reference to Hyperdimension Neptunia_** )

The person stayed silent for a few short seconds before saying, “I guess I could’ve.”

“You guess?” Fiona said, “Me and my sister have been baking in the sun with rakk’s dive bombing me for the last--”

The person fired another shot in the air, letting everyone have the same reaction like they did before.

“ **COULD YOU NOT DO THAT!?** ” Shadow couldn’t help but yell to him. The person didn’t answer him, all he did was ignore him. Fiona had said, “Okay, okay. I get it. This fraud was completely left out the most important part of this whole thing.”

Rhys turned his head towards her, “Which is…?”

“Umm…” Plutia said, “It’s a bit… Complicated.”

* * *

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; World of Curiosities (Fiona & Plutia’s P.O.V)_**-

Fiona and Plutia both watched from the sidelines just behind the gigantic fan as they saw August trying to prevent the man from Hyperion from taking away the case. The only thing was they were both fighting over it like a child would with a doll.

“Come on! Let go!” They heard the guy yell out, “I need that!”

“It’s mine! Give it!” They heard August say, “What’s your fricking problem anyway?!” They soon heard the sound of a car crashing right into the building and guns were starting to go off explosions happening left and right and---

* * *

_Wait a minute! Wait a minute!_

* * *

- ** _Presen_** t-

Plutia was forced to stop in the middle of the story since Rhys was the one that interrupted her. She turned him and tilted her head asking, “What?”

“How is **_THAT_** the most important thing?” Rhys had asked her, “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Huh?” Plutia said, “What am I forgetting?”

“Oh I don’t know.” Rhys said, “How about the part where it was… **YOUR OWN SISTERS FAULT!?** ”

Fiona gave a look towards Rhys. “Oh come on!” She said, “That was not my fault!” All Rhys and Shadow did was give Fiona a ‘Really’ look which caused her to say, “Well, not all of it anyway.” She looked at their kidnapper. “Are you making a face under there?” She asked him, “I can’t tell what you’re thinking if--”

She was cut off again when he pointed the gun towards her and Plutia.

“Trust me when I say he’s not in the mood for any funny business.” Shadow had told the two, “So you might as well just tell what he wants to hear.”

Her and Plutia both looked at each other; they both let out a sigh. “Okay.” Plutia said, “I guess that’s fair.”

“Fine.” Fiona said as she rolled her eyes, “But let's start at the beginning…”

**_(Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace)_ **


	4. The Con

**QUICK NOTE:**

_When text is like this, either Rhys or Fiona is the one speaking_

**When this text is just like this, it means that the kidnapper is speaker**

**_When text is like this, either Shadow or Plutia is the speaking_ **

 

Not to worry later on I will put labels on who is speaking

* * *

 

( _ **Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1**_ )

 

_I was born here… On Pandora… In a city cast in shadow known as Hollow Point… It’s in a cave. Anyway for a long time it was just me and my sister. Just a couple of kids stealing what we could to survive. That is until we met Felix. We tried to nab his wallet. Not only did he stop us he showed us how to do it better we’ve been working together ever since._

 

**_I was born on Pandora as well, but my parents were killed by Bandits when I was little. At the time I was having a hard time surviving on my own. I sometimes find myself not eating on some days. Fiona found me while I was begging for food. She took me back home and I became her and Sasha’s little sister. From there, her, Sasha and Felix started to teach me how to be a Con Artist like them._ **

****

_This was our latest scam. And it was the biggest one yet… The one that would set us up for life._

 

**That sounds familiar.**

 

_What can I say? A lot of these stories start out the same way._

* * *

 

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; Hollow Point (Fiona & Plutia’s P.O.V)_**-

 

It was just another day within Hollow Point among the small family of con artists within a carven. Plutia with her long braided lavender hair, sat on the couch humming to herself as she was sewing her doll named Iris. It was a gift from her late mother; the doll had on the same dress as her the only two differences was the doll had red eyes and long dark purple hair with lilac blue at the ends.

 

Fiona on the other hand was nervous about what was about to happen. They were going to con a company man from Hyperion, by the name of Hugo Vasquez. She pacing because she was nervous about what she might have to do to fool the one who was going to sell the merchandise, August.

 

Plutia had just finished patching up what was needed on her doll which was the eye. “There we go, all done!” Plutia said holding the doll out in front of her; admiring her own work, “Iris is all better now!”

 

Plutia noticed the way her sister was acting. “Big sister you're sweating. Are you nervous?”

 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Fiona said to her, “This is taking way too long. She’s waiting for us.”

 

A man with a mechanical eye patch was working on the merchandise while Plutia sat next to him and watched. “Fiona, relax.” He said to her, “There’s nothing to be nervous about.”

* * *

 

**_FELIX_ **

**_RAISED FIONA, PLUTIA & SASHA IN A LIFE OF CRIME_ **

* * *

 

“Hey Felix?” Plutia asked, “Are you almost done?” “Yeah, just about.” He replied. Felix made the finishing touches to the merchandise, he then turned on something and the merchandise shined a purple light.

 

“It looks good.” Fiona said to Felix.

 

The merchandise of course turned out to be a Vault Key which was a fake. “If August is a fence worth his cut, he’ll be selling it to some Hyperion stooge… It should be good enough to fool one of them.”

 

Plutia stared at it in awe, “Wow… It looks like the real thing.” She couldn’t help but say.

 

“Indeed.” He said, “Not too many people have seen a Vault Key real or otherwise, so no one will know that this is a fake.”

 

Plutia attempted to touch it but Felix slapped her hand lightly. “The paint may still be wet so don’t let anyone touch it. That includes you Plutia.” Felix said. Plutia made a pouty face.

 

“Don’t touch it? Really?” Fiona said, “If Plutie here can’t avoid touching it I’m pretty sure others won’t be able to either. So how am I supposed to manage that?”

 

“Don’t know.” Felix replied, “But I’m sure you’ll think of something. You always do.”

 

Fiona had a nervous look on her face again. “You don’t have to worry about this big sister.” Plutia had said, “Besides you’re better at this than I am.”

 

“She is absolutely right.” Felix said, “You’re a pro. This is what you do. Your sister may have bought the mark, but you’re the one that’ll close the deal by playing whatever role you need to get the job done. If she introduces you as a tiny psycho, you’ll squat down and scream about poop trains. Okay? The first introduction is who you are. You, Sasha, and Plutia have to work together.”

 

Fiona let out a loud growl, “I have the shiniest meat bicycle!” Plutia couldn’t help but laugh at her tiny psycho impression.

 

“Exactly.” Felix said to her.

 

Fiona put her hands together, “Well, it’s showtime.” She turned to Plutia, “Alright Plutie, you ready to see your sisters in action?”

 

Plutia nodded her head, “Of course!” She got up off the couch and went beside Fiona clipping her doll to her belt on her dress.

 

“Fiona.” Felix said to her, “When she gives you your role, you play it as best you can. The deal came together faster than I’m comfortable with, but… it’s worth the risk… so it’s best to take precautions against the unforeseen.” Felix took out what appeared to be a small golden pistol. “The Purple Skag is not the type of place you walk into without a backup plan.” He said.

 

“You want big sister to shot her way out?” Plutia asked him tilting her head in confusion

 

“Might need a bigger gun than that.” Fiona said

 

Felix got up from his seat, “It’s only for emergencies, just like how Plutia’s **_friend_** is for emergencies.”

 

He proceeded to install the small gun right into a hidden mechanic in her sleeve. “One bullet.” Fiona said. “That’s right.” Felix said, “You’ll always be able to talk your way out of more situations than can shoot your way out of.”

 

With the hidden mechanic the gun went into her sleeve. Felix closed the case shut and Fiona reached out for it when he was handing it to her; he pulled back slightly. “Wet paint.” He reminded her.

 

“No touch.” She said while taking the case. Fiona took Plutia’s hand and they headed out the door. “Emergencies only!” Felix soon shouted.

 

“Don’t worry, we got it!” She said to him.

 

“And remember Plutia.” He said to Plutia, “Don’t let your friend come out unless if absolutely necessary.”

 

“Hmmm…” Plutia said, “Well I can’t control myself when I get **_mad,_** but I’ll do my best.”

 

“That’s all I need to hear.” Felix said, “Good luck to you and look out for each other. I’ll meet you over there.”

 

Fiona and Plutia both exited the carven and went towards their destination; The Purple Skag. Luckily it wasn’t to far from where they were so it was an easy walk. Plutia stayed close to Fiona as they approached the bar. They stopped in their tracks however when they saw a large man just at the entrance wearing overalls.

 

“Great…” Fiona said, “Felix didn’t mention a bouncer.”

 

“I’m just going to assume that’s bad.” Plutia said tilting her head.

 

“It is.” She said, “Stay behind me Plutie in case things go south.”

 

Plutia nodded and stayed behind her as they approached the front door. The large man like Fiona thought, he stopped them from entering. “Sorry.” He said to the two of them, “No one’s getting in here today. VIP’s only.”

* * *

 

**_TECTOR HODUNK_ **

**_GREAT AT VIOLENCE, BAD AT EVERYTHING ELSE_ **

* * *

 

“Private function.” He continued to say, “There’s Fyrestone Tavern down the road. If you really need a drink they’ll take care of the two of you.”

 

“He doesn’t seem very bright.” Plutia whispered, to which Fiona immediately shushed her. She then said to Tector, “Why do you care? I mean does this really matter?”

 

“Of course it matters!” Tector said to Fiona, “It’s ma’ job! I ain’t lettin’ no one in there what’s not supposed to be in there.”

 

“... Yeah.” Fiona couldn’t help but say. They attempted to walk into the Purple Skag again, but once again were stopped by Tector. “Whoa, no, no.” He said as he stopped them, “Lookit me and lookit at you. You two ain’t just pushin’ your way past me. No Ma’am. That’s ain’t gonna happen.”

 

Plutia’s eyes widened when she saw a certain on the wall of the bar. “Umm, big sister?” she said getting Fiona’s attention. “What?” She whispered to her, “What’s the matter?” Plutia pointed towards a wanted poster with her face on it and another one with Plutia’s face on it as well. “Oh.” She couldn’t help but say.

 

Tector had also noticed the posters as well.

 

“Wait a second…” Tector had said, “That’s the two of you there. Your faces on the paper with the writin’ on it. What’s that about huh? What’s them words say?” Tector had pulled out the gun, pointing towards Fiona. Plutia couldn’t help but cling onto her sister when she saw the gun.

 

Fiona was quick to come up with an excuse seeing as how, Tector couldn’t exactly read, “That’s the VIP list. And we’re on it. They probably put the a picture to make it easier for you.”

 

“That’s a short list.” He pointed out.

 

“We we are important.” She said with a smile.

 

Tector had an unsure look on his face, “I don’t know…” He said.

 

Just than the door to the bar opened and it was revealed to be a young woman with short dreadlock hair that both Fiona and Plutia had seemed to be very familiar with.

 

“Out of the way Tector!” She said, “They’re the VIP’s we’ve been waiting for.”

* * *

 

**_SASHA_ **

**_FIONA’S OTHER KID SISTER; PARTNER IN CRIME_ **

* * *

 

“Dang Sasha.” Tector had said, “Why didn’t you tell me they were with you? So sorry about that.” Fiona and Plutia walked up to Sasha. “Can’t believe that worked.” Sasha said after she sighed with relief.

 

“I can’t either.” Fiona said to her.

 

Plutia couldn’t help but hug Sasha to which she grunted. “I’m so happy to see you ***** big sis!”

 

( ** _*Plutia calls Fiona big sister while she calls Sasha big sis_** )

 

“Plutia, I’ve been gone a couple of hours silly.” Sasha said getting her off.

 

“I know but it feels like forever.” Plutia said.

 

“Come on we’ll talk more inside.” She said to both her and Fiona. They entered the Purple Skag; before Fiona entered, she ripped off the poster of both her and Plutia and she went inside. They went to the bar where Sasha started to clean up any thing that was on the bar. Plutia sat on one of the stools while Fiona leaned on the bar.

 

Plutia looked around, “Where’s that man that your talking about big sis?” She asked, “What’s his name again?”

 

“His name is August.” Sasha told her, “He’s with someone right now so we’ve got a second. He has some trust issues. He keeps asking about you so I’m just gonna tell you what I told him. Fair warning, it’s alot.”

 

“Great.” Fiona said sarcastically.

 

Sasha had started to explain Fiona’s role to which she would play, “Okay, so here’s the setup. Your name is Lidia Strauss. We’re old friends. You’re an archaeologist that stole the Vault Key from a dig site on Eden-6, but you’re originally from Eden-5. You contacted me and we met at Pyro Pete’s just after Mercenary's Day to talk about the deal. Then I set up the deal with August. You provide the key, August and I provide the deal, then we split the money 3 ways. The rest of it, you’re just gonna have to improvise.”

 

Fiona was trying to process the information while Plutia on the other hand had her head flat on the bar with her brain steaming. “My head hurts big sister…” Plutia said. “Well when you get to our age your gonna have to remember things like that.” Fiona told her.

 

“It feels like a lot of work though.”

 

“I know, but you’ll have to live through it when your time comes.”

 

Sasha had then asked Fiona, “So did you get all that? I know it’s a lot but he kept on asking.”

 

Fiona nodded her head and said, “Yeah I got it Sasha, this isn’t my first rodeo.”

 

“Good. Good.” She said, “That’s a relief.”

 

“What about me?” Plutia asked them, “What do I do?”

 

“You’re still trying to learn how to be us.” Sasha said to her, “You just sit back and just watch and learn and if needed, you’ll provide back up.”

 

Plutia smiled and said, “Okay. I’ll be back up.”

 

They soon heard August coming down the stairs with one of his clients named Tommy. Fiona motioned Plutia to move. She nodded and moved from one of the stools to one of the tables.

 

“Tommy come on.” He said to him, “How far do we go back?”

 

“I’ve known your family for a long time August.” Tommy said.

 

“That’s right. Which is why this is all gonna work out. Now you say hi to the missus for me, okay?”

 

“We’ll do August… heh, buddy.”

 

“Tector!”

 

Tector came into the Purple Skag, “Yeah boss?” He asked.

 

“Make sure Tommy get’s home alright.” August told him. “Thanks again!” Tommy said to August as he walked out of the Purple Skag. Tector turned to August and all he did was nod at him; Tector pulled out his gun and stepped outside. August walked over to Sasha and took a moment to place a kiss on her cheek, surprising both Fiona and Plutia at that.

 

“I don’t believe this.” Fiona mumbled.

 

“Big sis never mentioned that.” Plutia whispered.

 

Sasha than went into action, “Hey August, this is--” August  took notice and said, “Oh hey. Sasha tells me that you’ve got something cool to show.” They were momentarily startled by the sound of what appeared to be a the sound of a loud, which made Plutia just freeze; she held her urge  to not run and grab onto one of her sisters and just cling onto to them to ignore the loud sound. Fiona noticed this and felt bad that she couldn’t do anything to blow her cover.

 

“It’s… Lidia right? Lidia Strauss.” August asked getting Fiona’s attention again, “Sasha’s told me a lot about you. She ensures me you can be trusted.”

 

Fiona smiled and said while keeping calm, “That’s me. Lidia Strauss.”

 

“I apologise about the delay.” He said to her, “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

 

Just than the man who was named Tommy, came running back into The Purple Skag; He had appeared to be in distress.

 

“ **NO!** ” He shouted, “ **NO! NO! PLEASE!!** ”  

 

Tector came rushing back in, and pulled the trigger on his shotgun and it had hit him on the back of shoulder; He fell to the ground hard right on his face. August removed himself from the bar and walked over to Tommy.

 

“Please…” He pleaded, “Please… August… I’ll pay… I’ll pay… I’ll pay…”

 

Tector handed the gun to August; He pointed towards Tommy. “You are.” He said to Tommy. With a single shot, Tommy’s brains blew out of his head, and a small amount of blood landed right on Fiona’s cheek. Plutia was frightened by what had just happened, once again she held the urge to run over to one of her sisters to cling onto. She instead removed her doll from her belt and hugged it as hard as she could calming herself down.

 

“ ** _I hope this will be over soon._** ” Plutia couldn’t help but think.

 

“The little bastard had a Maliwan shield on.” Tector explained, “Shocked me real good. Sorry about the mess boss. Won’t happen again.”

 

August walked over to Fiona. “Well that was exciting.” He said wiping the blood off her cheek. He turned over to Sasha, “Hon, bring us over a couple of drinks then start moppin’ up that blood. I don’t want to have to get the floors redone.”

 

“Sure thing babe.” Sasha said to him.

 

Fiona, Sasha and Plutia noticed that Felix had entered the Purple Skag, almost surprised by what he saw of the aftermath of when he saw Tector drag out the body as Fiona followed August to a table.

 

“Your business deals always go like that?” Fiona had asked August.

 

“He said he’d do something, then he didn’t.” August replied, “I don’t abide to dishonest people.”

They both sat down, both on each others opposite sides of the table. “So how long have you been an archeologist.” He proceeded to ask, “Must be fascinating work. Getting out there in the dirt uncovering priceless artifacts.”

 

“Long enough to find a Vault Key.”

 

“Well that does seem like the perfect amount of time. Really, it’s interesting. Where did you say you found this again? Refresh my memory. Sasha mentioned it was one of the Eden’s.”    

 

“I found it on Eden-6. At a dig site there.”

 

“Right, Eden-6. Marcus is always talking about that place. Says it’s really nice.”

 

“It’s nice when you find a Vault Key there.”

 

“It most certainly is.”

 

Sasha came with the drinks; she placed them on the table. “Thanks, hon.” He said to Sasha. All she did was flash a smile at August and just walked away from the table. August leaned in on the table, “Alright… Let’s have a look.”

 

“Of course.” Fiona said. She picked up the case and placed it on the table. With a press of a button she opened the case revealing the Vault Key. August was at a loss for words the only thing he could say was, “Whoa… It’s pretty.” He reached out to touch the Vault Key, which made Felix (from a distance) nervous. Plutia was a bit nervous as well but she noticed her sister playing it calm.

 

His hand was on the key, “Wow…” He said, “It’s beautiful.” He immediately pulled back his hand, “Sorry, I haven’t touched anything this expensive before.

 

Plutia who was sitting nearby noticed the small amount of faded paint on his hand.

 

“ ** _OH NO! THE PAINT!_** ” Plutia exclaimed in her thoughts.

 

Fiona noticed this as well and became nervous. But surprisingly enough, August himself didn’t notice it, even when he rubbed his hand on his face. This made them sigh with relief when he didn’t notice it.

 

“Well.” August said, “I’m sold. I’ll call Vasquez and we’ll get this going.”

 

August got up and proceeded to call the client. Fiona turned to Sasha and she silently nodded to her; She turned to Plutia who was still a bit nervous and gave her a wink which calmed her down a bit.

 

“Ugh… Vasquez, it’s August.” They heard him say, “Are you buying this Vault Key or what, ‘cause I--Hey wait, do you have me on speaker? Seriously? No look… I don’t even know what obstinate means, man. What I know is I gotta move this thing right now.”

 

Felix turned towards Fiona; She nodded to him confidentially. Felix nodded back but quickly turned away when August turned to whisper over to her, “I know what obstinate means. These Hyperion guys get uncomfortable around people that sound to competent. They expect a nervous, small time Pandoran thug… So I give them what they want.”

 

He went back to the call, “No, man this thing is hot. I got offers so if you want it, you gotta get down here--No we’ll be there soon---That ain’t good enough buddy boy, I ain’t that guy. I’m trying to do you a solid here, so don’t go making things harder because I’ll walk.”

 

Fiona had then asked him, “How well do you know this Vasquez guy?”

 

August had replied, “We’ve met a few times. He’s a bit of a prick, but most Hyperion guys are.”

 

“I’ve noticed that.” She said.

 

August once again went back to his call, “Look, let me make it crystal clear. I want ten million dollars. That’s right, we’ll be waiting. Yeah? You say ‘Hi’ to your--”

 

He heard a click on the other end, “He hung up.”

 

He took the drink from the table and gulped it down. Afterwards he explained what was gonna happen, “Alright, Sasha will hold the key, since it’s clear that you don’t trust me alone with it, and seeing as how I just had a guy killed right in front of you… I’m not even offended. Bring your gun babe.”

 

“Got it.” Sasha said. She closed the case, and picked it up from the table.

 

“So that’s it than?” Fiona asked August as he made his way towards the door. “She’ll let you know when it’s done and where to get your money.” He replied before saying to Sasha, “Let’s go.” Thus both August and Sasha exited the Purple Skag. As soon as the door shut, Plutia and Felix got up from their seats and walked over to Fiona.

 

“That man August seems like a nice person, if you don’t count him killing a person.” Plutia said to Fiona.

 

“To think that they both have a thing though.” Fiona said, “It still strikes me as well, odd.”

 

Plutia turned to Felix, “What do we do now?”

 

Felix took a sip from his beer and said, “We’ll follow them in the caravan.”

 

Fiona only took one sip from her drink as Felix walked out of the door. “Come on Plutie, let’s go.” She said, extending her hand to her.

 

“Kay’ big sister!” Plutia said with a smile. She took her hand and they proceeded to walk out of the Purple Skag.

 

( ** _Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace_** )


	5. Let's Call It Truce

( ** _Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1_** )

 

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; World of Curiosities (Fiona & Plutia’s P.O.V)_**-

 

Everything was going as planned. While Fiona, Plutia and Felix were in the caravan at a safe distance Sasha and August were preparing for the arrival of Vasquez. “We’re in position.” Sasha said through the small ECHO device which was connected back to the caravan.

 

“Let us know when they arrive.” Felix had said to her.

 

Sasha then proceeded to get rid of the evidence of the key being a fake. “Hey August.” She said getting his attention, “You--You got something on your face. Come here, let me get that for you.” She proceeded to get the paint off.

 

* * *

“ ** _Oh thanks hon._** ” They heard August say over the ECHO.

 

Felix had his arms crossed as he sat, while Fiona sat back on the chair with her hat covering her eyes, and Plutia sitting on the couch brushing the hair on her doll. “I can’t believe you let him touch the key.” Felix said to her, “Don’t touch it was what I said.”

 

“It worked out in the end didn’t it?” Fiona said.

 

“Yeah.” Plutia said to him, “Big sister knew what she was doing.  

 

Felix let out a sigh knowing he couldn’t argue with them, “This time… Luckily.”

 

Fiona and Plutia giggled a bit, “The look on your face when he smeared it on his cheek.”

 

“It really was funny!” Plutia said with a smile.

 

“No it wasn’t.” Felix said.

* * *

Sasha than heard Shade come in with the client, or the proper term, clients. Two of them were men about one with a golden yellow eye, and a blue eye with a robotic arm and a man with state of the art glasses. But what really surprised her was when she saw that there were two teens, a girl with an emerald green hair and a long pony tail, and a boy with short black and red hair with crimson eyes; his left eye had some kind of metal plating and looked like the eye of a cat; He appeared to injured on the shoulder however, judging from the makeshift bandage he had wrapped around his shoulder.

 

“Still is.” She heard Shade say, “Actually, because he’s definitely not dead! But the place itself is…”

 

“Alright we’re on.” Sasha said over the ECHO.

 

“What happened? You get stuck in traffic?” August had asked them.

* * *

The three of them listened to their conversation.

 

“ ** _Usually you Hyperion guys are so punctual._** ” They heard August say, “ ** _Gettin’ 10 million together can’t be too much trouble for you guys._** _"_

 

They heard the other man say, “ ** _I figured you’d want get here to take a tour, maybe get here a little early.”_**

 

“ ** _Early?  You think I like being here, you think this is fun? I mean have any of you guys seen the bathroom yet? Every minute in this horror factory is like an hour._** ”

 

Plutia tilted her head in confusion, “I thought there was supposed to be one guy, right?” She said.

 

“Sasha?” Felix said through the ECHO device, “Is the man named Vasquez there?”

* * *

“Alright, well…” She heard Shade say, “I’ll just leave you to your business things than!” And with that Shade took his leave.

 

“I’m August.” He said introducing himself to them, “But I figured you already knew that. Is uh… Is Vasquez coming?”

 

Sasha turned away from them as they talked.

 

“There are four guys here.” Sasha whispered, “But none of them appear to be Vasquez.”

* * *

“Four guys?” Fiona said, “That seems a bit much don’t you think.”

 

“He may have sent some lackeys.” Felix concluded, “Didn’t want to get his hands dirty.”

 

“ ** _And get this._** ” They heard Sasha say, “ ** _Two of the four guys, are teenagers._** ”

 

All three of them were shocked to hear that from her. “Teenagers?” Fiona said, “Working for Hyperion?”

 

“That seems young don’t you think?” Plutia said. Felix and Fiona both turned to look at Plutia for a moment. “Then again…” Felix couldn’t help but mumble, “We shouldn’t be the ones talking.”  

* * *

Sasha looked closely at the crimson eye teen. When she did all he did was tilt his head like he a dog would when it heard something out of the ordinary. “ ** _He seems to be harmless enough, if you don’t count the sword he’s got carrying. Doesn’t seem like the type of guy to work for Hyperion though. Same can go for his friend._** ” Sasha thought to herself, “ ** _Doesn’t seem like an idiot either; I had better be careful._** ” Panic started to rise however when her eyes fell upon the man with the different colored eyes, and let out a silent gasp by what she saw.

 

One of his eyes was lit up.

 

“Oh damn it.” She said, and proceeded to tell the others, “One of them has an ECHOeye implant.”

* * *

Fiona and Felix’s eyes widened in shock. Plutia on the other hand was confused. “ECHOeye?” She said, “What’s an ECHOeye?”   

 

“It’s a really high tech machinery.” Fiona replied, “If a person has that, than we’re in serious trouble.”

 

“Trouble?” Plutia asked again.

 

“ ** _Let me put it this way._** ” Sasha said, “ ** _If he scans the key, he’ll know it’s a fake._** ”

 

Plutia’s eyes widened, “That is bad. If he does that, we won’t get the money.”

 

“ ** _They’re still talking._** ” Sasha explained, “ ** _But there’s no way they’re not gonna scan it, unless they really are complete morons._** ”

 

“We can’t take that chance!” Fiona said, “We have to disable it!”

 

“Okay, yes, good thinking!” Felix said to her.

 

“Disable it?” Plutia said tilting her head, “How?”  

 

Felix got up from his seat and went over to the toolbox, “There’s a small EMP device in the chest over there!” He said to Fiona and Plutia, “Grab it for me while I assemble the detonator!”

 

Both Fiona and Plutia nodded their heads and went over to the chest. When they opened however--

 

“ **UGH! WHAT!?** ” Fiona exclaimed.

 

“Uh-oh.” Plutia said.  

 

There within the chest were a hell of a lot of gadgets and gizmos some they didn’t even know how to work. Plutia made a whine, “This is just bothersome!”

 

“Ah come on!” Fiona said before turning to Felix, “ **HOW DO YOU FIND ANYTHING IN HERE!?** ”

 

“It’s about palm sized!” Felix explained, “It has a small circuit board sticking out of it!”

 

They both looked around in the case, and soon Plutia saw it. She picked it up and held it to Felix. “Is this it?” Plutia asked. “Yes that’s it!” Felix said, “Bring it here!” Plutia bought it over and gave it to him. He finished putting together the device.

 

He then gave it to Fiona, “Here!” He said while handing it to her, “This will generate a low level electromagnetic pulse. That should be enough to scramble his system. But you need it close to the Key.”

 

He went over to the ECHO device and said, “Sasha, on my signal you need to get the case over to the vent behind you.”

* * *

Sasha turned slightly to not cause any suspicion. She saw the vent that he was talking about which was a behind a huge fan. “How the hell do I do that?!” She whispered angrily.

* * *

 

“I don’t know, figure it out!” He told her. He turned back to Fiona, “There’s a ventilation shaft in the back that’ll give you access.” He explained, “Once you’re in, I’ll talk you through it. But stay in the shadows, the walls are paper thin. Don’t be seen and don’t be heard.”

 

Fiona nodded and turned to Plutia, “Let’s get going Plutie!”

 

“Right!” Plutia said, “I’m right behind you big sister!”

 

“Wait a minute, why is Plutia going with you?” Felix had asked.

 

“She plays as the back-up, remember?” Fiona reminded him.

 

Felix stayed silent before saying, “Right good point. Go hurry!”

 

Fiona and Plutia nodded and exited the caravan. They approached the World of Curiosities quickly and quietly as possible. When they got close enough they got a better look at the people they were dealing with. “They look kind of funny looking.” Plutia whispered.

 

“Felix we can see them.” Fiona said through the small ECHO device, “How do we get inside?”

 

Felix had replied, “ ** _There should be a small air duct that leads to the room their in. Find it. That’s where you’ll take your position._** ”

 

“Got it.” Fiona said as she started to take a look around. Plutia was about to follow when she suddenly sensed a very strange presence. The markings of the siren on her arm and that showed on her legs glowed a little bit. She turned back and she was eyeing the teen with the crimson eyes. She tilted her head slightly as she stared at him.

 

“ ** _This presence… I know this presence._** ” Plutia thought to herself as she looked at the slight glow from her markings; she turned back to the teen, “ ** _Him? But there’s no way, it couldn’t be..._** ”

 

She was brought out of these thoughts when she heard Fiona. “Plutie!” She called out in a somewhat loud whisper, “What are you doing? Come on, we gotta move!”

 

“Right, I’m coming!” Plutia whispered. She took a moment to turn back to the teen despite the fact that he didn’t nay, couldn’t notice her. “ ** _I wonder…_** ” She continued to think, before she went to follow Fiona. They turned around the corner and found where the vent was supposed to be.

 

However the area was covered with posters both old and new and a giant bill board of Handsome Jack. Most of the old wanted posters consisted of a bounty hunter who wore a black cloak and gas mask of some kind, with other kinds of dark clothing; having what appeared markings of a siren on his arm but instead of being blue they were dark red; the poster was titled Black Wind.

 

“That’s funny.” Plutia said, “I didn’t even realize they still had those posters of the Black Wind."

 

“Focus Plutie.” Fiona told her, “We need to find that vent, so start looking.”

 

“Kay big sister.” She said to her. Thus they started to look. They ripped the posters off of the walls and still they didn’t couldn’t find the opening of the vent. It wasn’t long until Plutia looked behind the bill board of Handsome Jack. There it was, the opening of the vent.

 

“Big sister I found it!” Plutia said.

 

Fiona went over to where she was, “Atta girl Plutie!” She said, “Help me move this!”

 

Plutia nodded, and just like that, they started to push the bill board out of the way. “Alright, we just need to find a way to get up there.” She soon noticed a tool chest. “That’ll work.” She pushed it just under the vent.

 

They heard Felix’s voice, “ ** _Are you two in position?_** ”

 

“We’re almost in the vent.” Fiona replied as she climbed on top of the tool chest. “ ** _Good._** ” He said, “ ** _When the two of you get to the end of the air duct let me know._** ”

 

“We’ll do.” Fiona replied.

 

Fiona got the vent open. “Alright Plutie, you go in first.” Fiona as she climbed down. Plutia nodded her head, Fiona helped her climb on the tool chest. She was just about to enter the vent when all of a sudden she was face to face with an unexpected face.

 

It was the owner of the World of Curiosities.

 

“Hi!” He said. Plutia let out a small scream as she fell backward; Luckily Fiona caught her and immediately shushed her. “Sorry.” She whispered.

 

“My deepest apologies.” He said with a voice that wasn’t exactly indoor, “But we’re actually closed. Also this isn’t really a door but--”

 

“Shh!” Fiona said as she  immediately went ahead to cover the man’s mouth, “How did you get in there?!” At first when he was talking he was muffled, that is until Fiona removed her hand from his mouth. He then finished whatever he was saying, “After those Hyperions were kind enough to express an interest in my collection. "

* * *

August looked around the room. The teen with crimson eyes had asked him, “Is there something the matter?”

 

“I thought I heard something.” He said to him.

 

Sasha had immediately said, “I didn’t hear anything.”

* * *

 

Fiona and Plutia both sighed with relief when they didn’t realize that they were out there. “Keep it down!” Fiona whispered to the guy.

 

“I came back to my special place.” He said ignoring what Fiona had told him, “I’m Shade pleased to meet you both! I know it’s had to trust but I’m a people person!”

 

Before Fiona could tell him off Plutia had said, “Nice to meet you! I’m Plutia and this is my big sister Fiona.”

 

“Plutie!?” Fiona said.

 

“Oh delighted!” Shade had said, “Sometimes you wanna talk to someone not decomposing, know what I mean?”

 

“Ye--Yeah.” Fiona said hesitantly, “Sure.”

 

“Um…” Plutia said, “I don’t mean to be a pest but can you let me and my big sister through? It’s really important.”

 

“Course, come on in!” He said as he made room, “Although it may be a tight squeeze.”

 

“Thank you!” Plutia said with a smile. She climbed in the vent leaving Fiona stunned by what just happened. “I didn’t even know you could do that.” Fiona then climbed through the vent. “Alright let’s go.” Fiona said to Plutia.

 

Plutia nodded before turning to Shade, “Thanks again.”

 

“Wait you’re going?” Shade said before saying sadly, “Aww, and we were having such a nice chat.”

* * *

 

Fiona and Plutia made their way down the vent, slowly and quietly as possible.  They heard Felix again. “Are you two in place yet?” He had asked.

 

“We’re almost there.” Fiona had replied. They both slightly jumped when they heard a familiar voice

 

“So where are we going?”

 

They turned to see that it was Shade. “Oh, Shade!” Plutia said, “You followed us.”

 

“Ssh!” Fiona had said to Shade, “Go away!”

 

“You two are looking for that girl right?” He asked them, “The one with the hair?”

 

They both stopped for a minute and turned to Shade. “That’s right.” Plutia told him, “Like I said it’s important.”

 

“I know a best spot to peek without getting caught.” He said, “Let me come with you two. It’s been a long time since I had any friends, back in Oasis I--”

 

Fiona immediately said knowing he wouldn’t go away, “No need to go explaining alright. You can come with us, but just keep it quiet and make yourself useful.”

 

“You...You won’t regret this!” Shade had said, delighted to hear this. Fiona and Plutia started to shush him. Shade lead them to the end of the vent where they saw the deal taking place. “There’s big sis.” Plutia whispered, “Looks like she’s having trouble.”

 

“No.” Fiona said, “She’s giving us an opening. Plutie, let me go first.”

 

Plutia nodded and Fiona went ahead of her. She got close enough to see what was going on. She saw that Sasha had the case behind her. They were talking with one another, they surprised to hear that the crimson eye teen had caught Sasha in a lie, but Fiona didn’t let that stop her.

 

Fiona got in position, “Okay Felix we’re here.” She said.

 

“ ** _Good._** ” Felix said, “ ** _Sasha is waiting near the end of the vent. Get the EMP device on the case._** ”

 

Fiona moved all the way to the end of the vent and took out the EMP. As they continued to talk to one another, she took the opportunity to put the EMP device right on the case.

 

“Alright.” Fiona whispered, “It’s ready.”

 

Sasha and said to them after they explained themselves, “So you’re saying this key will get used to screw over some Hyperion stooge?”

 

“That’s exactly what we’re saying.” The guy with the glasses had said.

 

Sasha took only a moment to think before saying, “Alright I’m sold.” And she moved away from the vent.

 

“ ** _Alright good work Fiona._** ” Felix said.

 

“Are you two gonna join your friends?” Shade had asked them.

 

“Well no.” Plutia said.

 

“We’re going to sit here and play the quiet game.” Fiona added.

 

Felix had then said to Sasha, “ ** _Sasha if you see him trying to scan the key, give us a signal._** ” They heard Sasha was talking to August; While she was doing that Felix had then said to Fiona, “ ** _When you hear the signal, activate the EMP._** ”

 

They suddenly heard August say, “Nah, I’ve made up my mind.”

 

August and Sasha both started to walk away. “August wait!” The man with the glasses said, before turning turning to the man with the robotic arm, “Rhys! This is your department! Do something!”

 

“Rhys?” Plutia said, “So that’s his name.”

 

The man with the robotic arm named Rhys had got his attention, “August!” They both stopped in there tracks. “What?” August had asked turning to him. Both Fiona and Plutia were wondering what he was going to do. What he did was very unexpected.

 

He just got on his knees and said, “Come on man! Pleeeeeeeease?”

 

Neither of them couldn’t find the words to describe what they just saw. They saw the crimson eye teen and the girl with the long ponytail smack themselves in the face. “Damn it Rhys…” They heard the crimson eye say, “Way to make a fool of yourself…”

 

The girl with the long ponytail said, “Did you seriously just say please?”

 

August was unsure by what just happened and unsure of what to do; he heard Sasha say, “Dude, ten million dollars.”

 

The girl with the long ponytail, helped the guy with the glasses out of the cuffs. He opened up the case and showed them the money to show that they weren’t lying. “You make a good point.” August said to her. Everyone in the room just sighed with relief when August had changed his mind about making the deal.

 

He opened up the case and Rhys picked up the Key. Unknowingly to Sasha, Plutia and Fiona, the crimson eye teen had some type of ECHOeye as well. He scanned the key as Rhys removed it from the case. He’s eyes widened in shock by what he found. He proceeded to scan the entire room, even more shocked by what he found when he detected three additional heat signatures within a vent just behind the fan.

 

“Okay Fiona, he’s about to scan it.” Sasha said to Fiona over on the small ECHO device focusing on Rhys.

 

“Got it.” Fiona said whispered before turning to Plutia, “Alright hand me the switch.”

 

Plutia took out the device “Here you go big sister.” She said handing it to her. “Alright let’s do this!” Fiona said.

 

“Rhys! Don’t!” The crimson eye teen shouted getting his attention.

 

He was about to ask what was wrong when the EMP device on the case had activated. That’s when things took a turn for the worse as Rhys’s arm malfunctioned, letting him drop the key onto the floor. It broke on impact.

 

Everyone’s jaw dropped by what had just happened the whole room fell silent.

 

“ ** _What’s happening?_** ” Felix had asked.

 

“He…” Plutia said, “He dropped it.”

 

Felix couldn’t help but ask, “ ** _What?_** ”

 

“He dropped the Key.” Fiona had clarified.

 

“ _ **He dropped it!?**_ ” He exclaimed, “ ** _What do you mean he dropped it!?_** ”

 

Fiona couldn’t help but wonder, “It wouldn’t have mattered… That red eye teen tried to stop him from scanning it meaning he knew. So how did he…”

 

Plutia found the answer to that, “Big sister…” She said before pointing to his left eye. Fiona’s eyes widened when she saw that his left eye was lit up. “Oh shit…” Fiona mumbled

 

“ ** _How did he know?_** ” Felix asked, “ ** _It’s impossible for him! Only one had an ECHOeye!_** ”

 

“We got it wrong...” She said, “One of the teens has an ECHOeye implant as well. He must’ve scanned it before I turned on the EMP.” Judging from the silence Fiona received on the other end, he was stunned by what he just heard.

 

The silence in the room was finally broken by August when he exclaimed, “What the hell!?”

 

“I knew it.” The crimson eye teen had said before examining the pieces, “This whole time the Vault Key he was about to sell us was a fake.”   
  


“What?!” The girl with the long ponytail said, “A fake!?”

 

“It’s fake?” Rhys had said before glaring at August.

 

Just than they heard what appeared to be the sound of explosions outside of the World of Curiosities leaving everyone to wonder what it was.

 

“What’s that sound?” The guy with the glasses asked.

 

They heard the sound of what appeared to be music and a car screeching. Both of the teens widened in shock when they recognized that tune. It wasn’t before the girl with the ponytail had shouted, “ **EVERYONE MOVE!! NOW!!** ”

 

A car a suddenly drove right through the billboard with Bandit’s at the wheel.

* * *

 

**_BOSSANOVA_ **

**_MUSICIAN, MOTORCYCLIST, MURDER_ **

* * *

Bossanova’s came crashing in the building. As the car spun everyone took cover jumping on opposite sides. “ **BWAH HA HA HA HA!!** ” Bossanova laughed. Bandits came rushing in, and out from the dust cloud there appeared to be a Vault Hunter; An assassin for hire to be exact.

* * *

 

**_ZER0_ **

**_A BIGGER NUMBER THAN YOU_ **

* * *

 

Zer0 sliced a Bandit in half with his sword as he landed on his feet. “Now Bossanova. /” He said while standing up, “You know what I’m searching for. / Tell me where it is. /”

 

“I got no idea what you’re talking about Vault Hunter!” Bossanova shouted to him with his voice mashed in the speakers, both unaware of what was going on at the moment. The man with glasses soon noticed they were missing something. He saw the case with the money just next to the car.

 

“ **GUYS! THE MONEY!!** ” The man with the glasses said to his friends, “ **SOMEONE GET THE MONEY!** ”

 

The girl with the long ponytail got up, “ **I GOT IT!** ” Sasha got up as well. They dove for the money but neither of them managed to grab it. Bossanova was the one who picked up the case.

 

“ **NO GODDAMNIT!** ” Both Sasha and the teen shouted.

 

“Ooooo!!” Bossanova said, “Looks like our lucky day boys! Let’s ride!!”

 

Sasha and the teen quickly moved as the car started; it backed away breaking the wall and the Bandits surrounded Zer0 before he could go after him. Zer0 started to attack them.

 

Fiona and Plutia watched helplessly from the vent. “Oh no this is bad!” Plutia said.

 

Shade had asked, “Did these fellows come with you?”

 

Fiona had replied, “No they were definitely not invited!”

 

“What the hell is going!?” Felix had said.

 

“Just get in here! We need your help!” Fiona had said to him as they watched Zer0 take out more and more of the Bandits. “I think he kicked that guy’s head.” Plutia said.

 

“Oh for the love of…” Felix said, “On my way.”

 

“Come on!” The girl with the long ponytail said, “We gotta get out of here!”

 

“Well yeah, no shit!” Rhys had said to her. Three Bandits blocked their path, that’s when the crimson eyed teen pulled out his sword and just sliced all of their heads off. Plutia’s eyes widened when she saw his sword which was an arondigit. “ ** _That weapon…!_** ” She thought as she stared in awe.

 

“Let’s move now!” He shouted to them. They than ran out of the building leaving only, Sasha, Fiona, Plutia, August, Shade, Zer0 and the Bandits inside.

 

Sasha didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know if she would want to run, since she’s pretty sure that August is pissed at her for providing him with a fake Vault Key. Soon enough Felix came into the picture, and through a smoke grenade.

 

“ **COME ON! HURRY!!** ” Felix shouted over to Sasha. She saw her opportunity and turned to August, feeling a bit sorry that she had to leave him there, “Oooooohhhh… Sorry.” She said as she got up and ran.

 

“ **YOU!!** ” August shouted as he got up and pulled out his gun. He started to fire but luckily one of the bullets managed to hit a Bandit in the head. He continued to fire at her but ultimately kept on missing.

 

“ **BIG SIS!!** ” Plutia shouted.

 

“ **SASHA!!** ” Fiona exclaimed.  

 

Plutia turned to Fiona and started to tug on her sleeve, “ **BIG SISTER WE HAVE TO HELP HER!** ” An idea soon popped into Fiona’s head. She got up and kicked the fan so it would stop moving. “ **HELP ME PUSH THIS DOWN!!** ” She shouted to Plutia and Shade. They both nodded and started to push the fan. August continued to fire at Sasha unaware that the fan was about to come down on top of him. To which it did, unfortunately August had accidently pulled the trigger on the gun, and the bullet had ended up hitting Felix in the back of the shoulder.

 

“ **OH NO! FELIX!!** ” Plutia shouted. She tried to run over to him but Fiona stopped her because of the many Bandits in their way. “Are you okay?!” Fiona shouted over to them.

 

“Ye--yeah!” Sasha shouted over to her as she supported Felix, “I’m fine! Let’s just get out of here!”

 

“Plutie! Run!” Fiona shouted, “Don’t stop!!”

 

Plutia nodded and started to run ahead of her, as Fiona ran behind. Zer0 luckily was taking out most of the Bandits so they didn’t have much to worry about. That is until August got the fan off of him and aimed the gun at her.

 

“ **BIG SISTER!!** ” Plutia exclaimed stopping in her tracks, “ **BEHIND YOU!!** ”

 

Fiona turned and saw that August was shooting at her. She jumped on top of a Bandit and her hidden gun and aimed it at August but something was stopping her from doing so. She realized that Plutia was within range of getting picked off by at least one of the Bandits, and second if she took the shot to August, he might accidently hit Plutia. She couldn’t let that happen. So she decided to not risk the shot; As soon she hit the ground she quickly picked up Plutia and ran back to the caravan.

 

They managed to make it back to the caravan alive; One wounded, but alive. “Okay, okay, easy now.” Sasha said as she helped Felix inside.

 

But Felix shook her off, “Sasha I’m fine!” He said, “Thanks, but I’m fine.”

 

He got the caravan door open and they all went inside with Plutia still in Fiona’s arms. “Let’s just not have any surprises today.” He said

 

Fiona was the first to enter, while she still carried Plutia; their eyes were wide with shock when they saw a little surprise in the vehicle.

 

“Uh, Felix.” Fiona said.

 

“Hey it’s you guys!” Plutia had said.

 

“What?” Felix said. He turned to the front of the caravan, “ **OH COME ON!!** ” He said. There were the four people that they were trying to rip off; two of them were frozen in place while the other two had their weapons pulled out, be prepared to attack one of them. One teen with a gun and the other with his sword as he stood in front of the four.

 

“Are you guys really trying to steal our caravan?!” Felix had said to them.

 

“I didn’t exactly see your names on it.” The red eye teen said.

 

“And it would be considered payback after you people tried to rip us off!” The girl with the pony had shouted with rage filled in her eyes. The one named Rhys immediately stopped the two, “Shadow, Mion wait a minute hold one! Put your weapons away no need for blood shed or gruesome deaths!”

 

“ **THERE IS A PERFECT REASON FOR BLOOD SHED RIGHT NOW!** ” The one named Mion had shouted to him.

 

“They tried to rip us off Rhys!” The other one named Shadow had said, “And like we said, when living on Pandora whenever the enemy pushes you, you push back hard.”

 

“Yeah well considering the situation, just make an acception alright?” Rhys said to them, “Let me handle this.”

 

They both gritted their teeth and drew back their weapons. Rhys stepped forward and tried to explain himself, “Okay look, this is not what it looks it looks like---Okay it is, but look we’re really sorry okay!”

 

Sasha than pulled out her gun, and in turn Shadow and Mion both drew their weapons again. She didn’t even flinch when she felt Shadow’s blade near her neck. “Give us one good reason we shouldn’t shoot you four and drag your bodies out of that door.”

 

They all jumped when they heard the sound of gunshots.

 

“There’s one reason.” Rhys said.

 

They heard August shout outside, “ **HEY! WE’RE NOT DONE YET!!** ”

 

“Alright, everyone put down your weapons, shut the hell up and let me take the wheel!” Felix had shouted as he made his way to the drivers seat. The man with the glasses moved over as Felix took the wheel and everyone within the vehicle drew back their weapons.

 

“ **FIONA GET THE DOOR!** ” Felix shouted to her.

 

She put Plutia down and immediately went to shut the door; but was stopped by August.

 

“ **I DON’T LIKE IT WHEN PEOPLE LIE TO ME!!** ” August had shouted as he tried to get in.

 

“ **BIG SISTER!!** ” Plutia shouted seeing as how she was in distress.

 

The teen named Shadow had did something unexpected, to them anyway. He ran over to help Fiona. “Open the door!” He said to her.

 

“What?!” She exclaimed, "Why?!

 

“Just do it!”

 

She opened the door a bit wider and Shadow let out a powerful punch letting him land on his back; he groaned in pain from the wound on his shoulder. He backed his friends quickly ran to his side when they saw him fall to his knees. Fiona immediately shut the door when she saw August get back up again.

 

“J **UST DRIVE!!** ” She shouted to Felix.

 

“ **WHERE!?** ” He shouted back.

 

She replied, “ **ANYWHERE BUT HERE!!** ” Felix pressed on the gas pedal and they drove away from the World of Curiosities.

 

They all sighed with relief when they had managed to get away. “I think we lost him.” Felix said to the girls. Sasha turned to the people in the back of the caravan. The one named Mion checking on Shadows injury, seeing blood stain his jacket.

 

“So…” Sasha said, “What do we do with them?”

* * *

 - ** _Present_** -

 

Their kidnapper circled them as he listened to Rhys and Fiona bicker amongst one another; Shadow and Plutia couldn’t help but watch as well.

 

“Yes Fiona.” Rhys said who didn’t have a choice but to lean back onto her back, “What do we do with them huh? I mean other than try to con us out of our money!?”

 

“You guys weren’t even supposed to be there!” Fiona countered.

 

“ **WELL THAT DIDN’T STOP YOU DID IT! I MEAN AT LEAST THE MONEY WAS REAL!!** ”

 

“ **DON’T YOU RUB THAT ON ME!!** ”

 

Plutia had then said leaning back against a crate, “Would you two please stop arguing, it’s getting kind of annoying.”

 

“Seriously you two bicker like an old married couple.” Shadow had added doing the thing as Plutia was.

 

“ **WE’RE NOT A COUPLE!!!** ” They both exclaimed.

 

“You sure as hell sound like one.” He told them.

 

“He’s right you kind of do.” Plutia said.

 

“ **BUT WE’RE NOT!!** ” They shouted again.

 

“Alright, alright.” The person said, “I get it. You didn’t trust each other.”

 

Fiona had said to him, “And as it turns out we had good reasons to not to. I’ll give Sasha this much: from the start she knew not trust them, while Plutie and I thought she was just being paranoid.”

 

“What happened next?” The person asked.

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Rhys said, “Tell the nice man what you did to us next… you know, in our time of need. Tell him what you did.”

 

Fiona smiled innocently, “We tried to throw them out.”

* * *

 - ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; Caravan (Rhys & Shadow’s P.O.V)_**-

 

Rhys let out a horrific scream as he was struggling to not fall of the caravan. They had managed to disarm Shadow and Mion of their weapons and at the moment they were trying to push Rhys out of the caravan. “ **HNNNNGGGGAAAAHHHHHH!!!** ” He couldn’t help but scream.

 

Shadow, Mion, and the girl named Plutia, couldn’t help but cover their ears at that. "That one is too noisy." The little one name Plutia said “We should've just shoot them first!” The one named Sasha had said.

 

“No save the bullet.” The one named Fiona said holding Vaughn, Shadow and Mion at gunpoint, “The fall will definitely kill them.”

 

Rhys continued to let out a horrific scream.

* * *

 

( **KIDNAPPER** )

**Stop with the embellishments. What really happened?**

 

( ** _SHADOW_** )

**_Actually, believe or not… that’s what really happened._ **

 

( _RHYS_ )

_He’s right. That’s exactly how it went down._

 

( ** _PLUTIA_** )

**_We were trying to kill him. Well I wasn’t trying to, but big sister and big sis were trying to._ **

****

( _FIONA_ )

_Yup I actually did._

 

( **KIDNAPPER** )

**Oh… Okay. Continue.**

* * *

 “ **WAIT!** ” Rhys exclaimed still trying to keep himself from falling out, “ **YOU DON’T WANT TO DO THIS!** ”

 

“He’s just stalling.” They heard the man named Felix say, “This is a waste of time.”

 

Rhys almost slipped out of the car; he let a near shriek. “ **OKAY, OKAY!** ” He said filled with panic, “ **YOU CONVINCED ME! WE’LL SPLIT THE MONEY… 60-40!!** ”

 

“Wrong answer!” Sasha said.

 

“Hold on a second!” Mion said to them, “We can help you guys find the money!”

 

“She’s right, we can help!” Vaughn said.

 

Plutia tilted her head, “Really? How?” She asked.

 

“There’s a tracker.” Shadow explained, “We put a tracker in the case, Rhys can follow it!”

 

Felix thought about it before saying, “Let him back in Sasha.”

 

Sasha pulled Rhys back in the caravan. Rhys turned to them, “That was supposed to a secret!”

 

“Hey a little thank you would suffice!” Mion said to him.

 

“We did just save your life!” Vaughn said to Rhys.

 

Shadow sighed and added something else, “Just so you know, even if you get the case back you won’t be able to open it.” Fiona had asked, “What do you mean?”

 

Vaughn had explained, “It has a top-of-the-line biometric lock. It’s impossible to open without me and my passcodes.”

 

“Felix can open any lock.” Plutia said, “It doesn’t matter if it’s biometric.”

 

“That maybe so.” Rhys added, “But getting the case back is the hard part.” Felix had then said, “Alright Hyperion. Prove it. Find the money.”

 

Rhys had said, “Yeah, no problem.”

 

“Your gonna call Yvette aren’t you?” Shadow asked him.

 

“That’s just what I’m going to do.” Rhys replied.

 

“Wait a minute.” Sasha said, “Your just gonna call Hyperion after us?”

 

“Calm down Sasha.” Felix said to her, “Let’s see what they can do.”

 

“Thank you!” Rhys said to him.

 

Felix soon added, “And then kill them if they betray us.”

 

“And there it is.” Mion said. Rhys gulped and went ahead to call Yvette. Luckily she was there to pick up. “ ** _R_ _hys what the hell is going on down there?_** ” Yvette said over the phone, “ ** _You guys were supposed to do the deal then come right back. People are looking for you now!_** ”

 

Rhys replied, “Oh, we’re fine, we’re fine. Just… Hit a minor setback in the plan.”

 

“ ** _A minor setback?_** ” She said, “ ** _That’s not what it looks like from up here. Vasquez was already pissed about the car. That was before he got a call from this “August” guy. You guys have already been blacklisted up here, and it’s only gonna get worse the more Vasquez keeps yelling._** ”

 

“Unbelieveable.” He said.

 

Vaughn had asked, “Can’t you do anything?”

 

“ ** _Not without implicating all five of us. I already had security asking me everything I know. You guys are going to need me to get back to Helios once you clean up the mess._** ” She replied. 

 

“Come on Yvette!” Rhys said to her, “I just need network access!”

 

Yvette let out a sigh, “ ** _It’s like I said Rhys; you’re cut off. My login ID is being monitored. I’m doing my best to keep the heat you but… You have to find someone else. There’s only so much I could do. I shouldn’t be talking this long; they’ll trace the signal._** ”

 

“Don’t worry!” Rhys said, “I’m sure I can come up with something.”

 

“ ** _I’ve gotta go Rhys._** ” She said, “ ** _You’re gonna have to fix this one yourself._** ” Rhys than hung up, and at this point they were out of ideas. “Now what are we supposed to do!?” Mion said.

 

“How in the hell are we supposed to get another Hyperion ID?!” Vaughn exclaimed, “We’re not allowed to talk to other employees!”

 

“So that means you got nothing.” Felix said.

 

“Out you go!” Sasha said before she started to push Rhys out again. Rhys acted fast and grabbed onto the door frame. Shadow couldn’t help but bite his own thumb, seeing as how they were stuck in a situation they couldn’t get out of. “Damn it.” He mumbled to himself, “What the hell do we do?”

 

Mion turned to Vaughn, “Can’t Rhys just install someone else’s credentials in his head?!”

 

“Well yeah it is possible.” Vaughn told her, “But the problem is we don’t have anything that can help us with that!”

 

Shadow soon enough remembered something that they picked up at the World of Curiosities earlier. He immediately stood up and he yelled over to Sasha, “ **HANG ON A SECOND!! WE HAVE SOMETHING THAT CAN HELP US!** ”

 

Fiona turned to him and pointed the gun towards him, “Don’t try to stall us kid.”

 

“I’m not going to stall!” Shadow had said, “We really do have something that can help us out!”

 

Rhys than realized what he meant, “Oh yeah! Nakayama’s ID drive! You still have it!?”

 

“Of course I do!” Shadow told him. He went took out the ID drive and showed that they weren’t lying.

 

“How is that going to help?” Fiona asked him.

 

“The reason this will help because it’s black ops.” Shadow had told her, “And up in Hyperion, this will get higher clearance than us. It’ll help us get into the network and track down the case; All we need to do, is download it.”

 

Fiona looked over at Felix than to Sasha and Plutia. “It seems like he’s telling the truth.” Plutia had said.

 

“I am telling the truth.” Shadow had said, “Just pull Rhys back in. He’ll download it and take you straight to the money.”

 

Fiona thought about as did the others. Eventually she pulled back her gun and said, “Alright kid, you got a deal.”

 

Sasha pulled Rhys back in and shut the door behind him. Shadow was about to hand the ID drive to Rhys but Fiona stopped him. “You download it.” She said to him.

 

“What?” Shadow questioningly, “Why me?”  

 

“You’ve got an ECHOeye too don’t you?” She said, “So that means you can download too, right?”

 

“Ye--yeah. But Rhys has the latest ECHOeye, so he is more capable than--”Sasha cut him off by saying, “Either you download the information, or you guys can have a nice fall.”

 

Shadow stayed silent but eventual let out a sigh. “Okay, I’ll do it. Just don’t kill anyone.”

 

Mion immediately got up, “Shades hold on a second! You know as well as I do that you've never tried a direct download! You could get hurt or worse... killed! Who knows how much information is on that drive!”

 

Plutia was a bit nervous when she heard Mion say that. Shadow clenched his fist and said, “I know. But I don’t care. I can’t let any of you die.” He then proceeded to move some of his hair back revealing a small plug up on the side of his left eye.

 

“Maybe we shouldn’t let him do this.” Plutia had said to Fiona, Sasha and Felix, “He might get killed.” “If this is the only way we’re going to get the money than we have no choice.” Fiona told her.

 

He pressed a button on the ID drive and it revealed a large needle and electricity.  He turned to Rhys, “So all I have to do is shove this into my brain right?”

 

“That’s the idea.” Rhys said a bit worried about what was about to happen.

 

Shadow gulped and said, “Well here goes nothing.” With a quick motion he shoved the ID drive right into his head. He felt a little pain, but was surprised not to feel anything else. “Huh.” Shadow said, “That’s weird I thought there would be this kind of intense pa--”

 

He spoke too soon however, when all of sudden the information in the drive started to go into his head all at once causing him to scream at the top his lungs which made everyone to jump. His friends shouted his name as the whole world turned dark around him. The last thing he heard was a load ringing sound, and a voice. 

 

_“i’M veRy diSaPpoInTeD In yOu. dIDJa rEaLly ThInK YoU CouLD fOlLoW iN **mY** fOoTStEpS? yOU aRE nOtHIng mOrE  tHAn aNoTHer piTIFul LiTtLe cOdE MoNKey. AlL swAgGeR, nO SuBStANce.”_

 

( ** _Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace_** )

 


	6. Down the Hatch

_Shadow found himself floating in what appeared to be a dark abyss. The ringing was echoing all around as he tried to put together what happened. He tried to block out the sound but the ringing continued to make his ears bleed._

_“Damn it this hurts! Where is it coming from?”_

_The ringing had gotten louder and louder, causing him to cry out in pain as he tried his best to keep his brain from turning into soup. And just when he thought it would kill him the ringing just came to a sudden stop._

_He removed his hands from his ears and began to look around._

_“Huh? Why did it stop?”_

_It wasn’t long till he found out he wasn’t the only one within the darkness.  Out from the darkness… Came a voice._

  


“ _ **i’M veRy diSaPpoInTeD In yOu.**_ ”

 

_The voice sounded like a demon from hell; it was filled with static and distorted so he couldn’t tell if it was someone he knew or not._

 

_“ **WHO’S THERE!?** ”_

 

_The voice continued to speak, like it was taunting him._

 

_“ **diDJa rEaLly ThInK YoU cOuLD fOlLoW iN mY fOoTsTepS?** ”_

 

_He soon felt as though he was being watched; someone within the abyss was circling like a vulture circling a corpse._

 

 _“_ **_SHOW YOURSELF!!_ ** _”_

 __  
  


_The voice continued to speak to him, this time it had sounded close._

 

 _“_ **_yOU aRE nOtHIng mOrE  tHAn aNoTHer piTIFul LiTtLe cOdE MoNKey._ ** _”_

 

_It sounded ever so closer. It caused him to look around frantically, filled with a bit of panic. “ **DAMN IT ALL! STOP TAUNTING ME LIKE THIS! JUST WHO ARE YOU!?** ”_

  


_The voice spoke once more, but this time, when he heard it , the voice was right to his ear. Whoever was speaking was standing right behind him which made his whole body just shut down as a chill went down his spine._

  


_“_ **_AlL swAgGeR, nO SuBStANce._ ** _”_

 

_Just when he was about to turn around to see who the voice belonged to, the dark abyss was soon filled with a blinding light._

* * *

**_(Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1)_ **

 

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; Caravan (Rhys & Shadow's P.O.V)_**-

 

Shadow groaned as he forced his eyes to open. As he opened them he felt someone poking his cheek. He found himself staring into a pair of magenta eyes. Lo and behold it was Fiona and Sasha’s little sister. She sighed with relief and stopped poking his face, “Thank goodness!” She said a comforting smile, “You’re not dead!”

 

Shadow rubbed his head and continued to groan, “Sorry…” He said, “Who are you again?”

 

“Plutia.” She replied, “I’m Plutia. I’m glad to see that you’re not dead.”

 

He slowly sat up as he continued to rub his head. “Gah… My head. Wha…” He than noticed the memory drive that he plugged in wasn’t in his head anymore. “The drive!” He exclaimed as he started to look around frantically, “Where did--”

 

“You’re friend Rhys has the drive.” Plutia replied.

 

Shadow turned to her, “Rhys?”

 

Plutia pointed towards the other side of the caravan, and he saw Rhys one the floor with the memory stuck in his head. “ **RHYS!** ” He exclaimed before running over to him. He tried to shake him awake.

 

“Rhys! Hey, Rhys! Wake up!” Shadow had said. Plutia walked over to him and kneeled beside him. “Don’t worry.” She told him, “He’s okay.”

 

He turned to her, “What happened?”

 

Plutia had replied, “After you passed out that man named Vaughn tried to get the tracker working, but I think he said the information just stopped suddenly and only had gotten half of the information. So Rhys tried to download the information on the memory stick in his head, but he passed out too.”

 

“Stopped suddenly? Really?” He asked Plutia.

 

Plutia nodded, “But don’t worry, they managed to get the tracker that you were talking about working when soon after Rhys was knocked out.”

 

“So where are we now?”

  
“We’re at the location of the case right now. Felix drove us here while you were unconscious.”

 

Shadow couldn’t help but think back to the voice he heard while he was unconscious. “ ** _I wonder…_** ” He thought as thought back to the voice.

 

_“ **AlL swAgGeR, nO SuBStANce.** ”_

 

“I wonder if Rhys heard that voice too.”

 

He was brought out of thought when he heard Plutia say, “That reminds. I wanted to say thank you!”

 

Shadow looked at her with confusion, “Thank me? For what?”

 

“For helping my big sister with August.” She replied still smiling.

 

“Oh well… It wasn’t really a big deal.”

 

“Of course it’s a big deal. My sisters say that people that work for Hyperion are scumbags but you and your friends don’t seem that all bad.”

 

Shadow turned away from her and mumbled so that she wouldn’t hear, “I  ** _didn’t always_**  work for them.” It wasn’t until he felt pain not from his head but his shoulder; where he was hit by the Bandit. “Son-of-a-taint.” He said aloud, “I forgot about that wound.”

 

He was startled when Plutia started to remove the makeshift bandage. “Hey! What are you doing?”

 

“I thought I’d help you out.” Plutia said throwing the bandage to the side, “It seemed like you were in pain with this wound you have. Plus I owe you for helping out big sister.”

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

“Just hold still, and I’ll have it healed in seconds.”

 

Shadow wondered what she meant by that until he saw that her marks started to glow blue. She let dragged her finger over his wound almost as if she was drawing, and just like that Shadow saw the wound and even his own jacket put itself back together.

 

And as she said, within seconds the wound was healed up.

 

Shadow was awe by what she had just did. “All done!” Plutia said with a smile; the marks on her arm and legs had stopped glowing.

 

“My God…” Shadow said feeling his own shoulder; Surprisingly he felt no pain, “It’s like it wasn’t even there. How did you do that?”

 

Plutia explained, “It’s one of my abilities as a Siren. I can help heal almost any kind of wound on others than myself. Sometimes I can heal them with just a movement of my finger. I can’t use it that much depending on the wound though;  I can tire myself out easily.”

 

“But that just now… You used Eridium to heal my wound, right?”

 

“Yup. But like I said, depending on the wound I get really sleepy. I guess that’s one of the reasons my sisters and Felix don’t let me use them so often. They always say use it for emergencies.”

 

“If you can get tired pretty easily than I would understand why they would say something like that. But still that’s really amazing what you can do when you’re a Siren. Any other powers I should know about?”

 

“I would tell you, but I don’t think Felix will let me. He doesn’t really like me talking about  ** _her_**  that much.”

 

Shadow gave a quizzical look to her. “Her?” He asked, “Who do you mean?”

 

Plutia held up her doll in front of him and replied, “Her, Iris.” She said, “She is really nice when you know her, but she has a personality that makes them feel uncomfortable.”

 

“But…” He said questioningly, “Your friend Iris is a doll… How can--”

 

He was cut off when he heard Rhys let out a groan. They saw his eyes start to open. “Oh hey!” Plutia said, “You’re friend is up!”  

 

Rhys sat up and rubbed his head, with memory drive still stuck to him. He noticed that Shadow was up. “Oh hey…” He said a bit dizzy, “You’re not dead.”

 

“And you’re not either.” Shadow said, “How do you feel?”

 

“I feel like a something that a skag at and then threw up…” He told him, “How about you?”

 

“Same thing but times it by ten or twenty and then you’ll know.”

 

Rhys removed the memory stick from his head, and pulled up a map in the palm of his robotic arm. “Looks like Vaughn managed to get the tracker working while we both out.”  

 

Rhys looked around the caravan as he got up. “Hey you wouldn’t happen to know where the others are by any chance would you?” He asked Shadow.

 

Shadow looked around the caravan as well, “Now that you mention it, no one else is in here.” He stated. He turned to Plutia, “Do you know where they went?”

 

“They’re outside.” Plutia said, “They’re checking out the area. Come on, let’s go to them!”

 

Plutia took both Rhys’s and Shadow’s hand and proceeded to pull them outside. When they stepped outside they saw the rest of the group up on the hill, doing what Plutia said, checking out the area. They went to go and join the group to see what they were looking at, with Plutia running ahead of them.

 

They saw what they were looking at; Bandits driving around the in there motorcycles cars in front of what large building. Mion noticed that Shadow and Rhys were both up and about.

 

“Shades! Rhys!” Mion exclaimed as she ran over to them throwing her arms around them both, “Thank God! You’re both alright!”

 

“Mion…” Shadow gasped, “Mion you’re…”

 

“Kind of choking us…” Rhys said.

 

“Oh, sorry!” Mion said letting go of the two of them, “But seriously you two had me and Vaughn worried, we really thought you were done for.”

 

“Sorry for making the two of you worry.” Shadow told the two of them.

 

“Yeah.” Rhys said rubbing the back of his head, “Sorry about that.”

 

They heard Felix shush them, “Keep it down, this place is crawling with Bandits.” He said.

 

They nodded their head to Felix and went back to checking things out. “You two sure you’re okay?” Vaughn had asked Shadow and Rhys, “Both of you were kind of whacked in the head. I mean after you two plugged in that ID drive… It made this really gross sound.”

 

“Gross sound?” Shadow had asked.

 

Mion nodded and said, “It sounded like what a skag would sound like when it took a dump.”   
  


Shadow shuttered at the thought and said sarcastically, “Thanks for giving me that image.”

 

“But in the end we managed to find the money.” Rhys said.

 

“Considering that I was the one who managed to figure out that rust bucket’s navigation systems. You know something, some of that stuff is older than Atlas tech.”

 

“You make a good point.” Shadow told him. They went to check out the place for themselves. “If I had to guess, I’d say that case is there right?” Rhys had asked.

 

“Somewhere.” Felix replied.

 

“What kind of place is this?” Sasha had asked.

 

“From the looks of it, it looks like some kind of an abandoned Atlas warehouse.” Vaughn had replied.

 

“Really?” Fiona had said, “It doesn’t look abandoned. In fact, it looks as though every Bandit on this side of the planet has shown up.”

 

Sasha turned to Rhys, “How about it Mr. Roboto? Do you see any way to get inside?”

 

“If it really is Atlas tech, than you should be able to scan it.” Vaughn told him.

 

“Shades can even help out!” Mion said while hitting him on the back.

 

“Why me?” He couldn’t but ask her.

 

“Because that ECHOeye of yours needs a little workout now doesn’t it?” She replied.

 

“As if my brain couldn’t take much more.” Shadow couldn’t help but mumble.

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

Both him and Rhys went to scanning the area looking for a way in. It had only been a few moments but for them it seemed like hours. “Do you see anything that could help?” Plutia had eventually asked.

 

“No.” Shadow had replied, “I don’t see anything.”

 

It wasn’t until he saw one of the Bandits get killed by a sniper. They all saw the shot. “Who was that?” Plutia couldn’t help but ask Shadow. He looked over to where the sniper was. He saw who had taken the shot. “Zer0.” He said to himself.

 

“What?” Rhys had asked.

 

Shadow immediately shook his head and said, “It’s the Vault Hunter. From the World of Curiosities.”

 

“Zer0, really?” Mion said.

 

“Oh perfect.” Vaughn couldn’t help but say, “As soon as a Vault Hunter finds a case with millions of dollars in it’s as good as gone. You know how they are! They’re worse than the Bandits.”

 

“Can’t we just get in the same way the Vault Hunter did?” Sasha asked them

 

“We could but then again, we’re not Vault Hunters.” Fiona said.

 

“We’re just gonna have to find another way in.” Rhys said.

 

Shadow and him went back to looking around the area. Shadow watched as Zero entered the building. As he saw the Bandits chase after him, he heard the ringing sound again which made him grasp his head and groan.

 

Vaughn and Mion noticed Shadow in pain. Rhys saw that his own ECHOeye acting up; his eye began fill up with static.

 

“What the--” Rhys said, hitting his own head Sasha noticed Rhys acting this way. The static had stopped within seconds as did the ringing in Shadow’s head.

 

“Something the matter?” Sasha had asked

 

“N--no, everythings fine.” Rhys told her.

 

Shadow shook his head to get rid of the after pain. “You okay?” Vaughn asked him.

 

“Ye--yeah.” He replied while rubbing his head, “I’m alright.”

 

It wasn’t before Rhys found what appeared to be a hatch. “There’s a hatch that goes into the building.” Rhys said, “But it looks like it’s guarded.”

 

“Okay, so you found a way in.” Felix said. He stood up and said to Fiona, Sasha and Plutia, “Now remember to get in and out of there quickly. We’ve already taken too many risks today.”

 

“You mean you’re not coming?” Plutia asked Felix.

 

“Somebody needs to stay and protect the getaway car.” Felix replied, “I’ll be waiting for your signal. Fiona, Sasha, Plutia, be prepared for anything.  _ **Don’t trust anyone**_.” The three of them nodded their heads and Felix went back to the caravan.

 

Sasha had then turned back to Rhys, “Alright, so we got a way inside.” She said, “But how are we supposed to get in there? There is literally a Bandit parade going by.”

 

“Oh… That’s the easy part.” Rhys said before he started to explain the plan, “First we find a crafty hiding spot, we make ourselves a new friend. Fiona, Sasha and Plutia cover in order to sneak closer. We casually take our new pal for a stroll. Then we borrow one of the guards gun, making sure that his buddy doesn’t feel left out. We then take the secret entrance, which leads us to the briefcase, where we take a moment to celebrate our swift and easy victory, and we’re good to go! Everyone got that?”

 

“Rhys?” Shadow said getting his attention.

 

“Yeah?” Rhys asked.

 

Shadow had replied, “They just left.”  

 

Rhys looked around and saw that they were indeed gone and already down to where the hatch was. “Damnit.” Rhys said. Shadow took Rhys’s arms and dragged him towards the hatch.

 

“We found another way down.” Fiona said with her hand on her hip.

 

“I’m just gonna assume that you guys just did everything that I was saying so…” Rhys had said, “So, you know.”

 

“Alright so… Divide and conquer?” Mion had suggested.

 

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Vaughn had said.

 

Rhys had suggested, “Alright than, Shadow and I will go down there to see what we can find.”

 

Fiona had then added, “Sasha and Plutia will go with the two of you. The rest of us will stay out here to keep a look out.”

 

“Sounds good to me.” Shadow said.

 

“You and Rhys be careful down there.” Mion had said to them.

 

Both Rhys and Shadow nodded their heads, and then they proceeded down the hatch. Plutia and Sasha soon followed in after them, but as soon as they were halfway down the ladder they heard the hatch slam shut.

( ** _Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My_   _Pace_** )


	7. The Black Wind

**_(Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1)_ **

 

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; Underground (Rhys, Shadow's & Plutia’s P.O.V)_**-

 

After the hatch had slammed shut, Rhys turned on a light on his robotic arm to see where they where they were going exactly. “Big sister!” They heard Plutia shout, “Big sister open the door!”

 

“Fiona!” Sasha soon shouted, “Open up, it’s pitch black in here!”

 

“Ha, ha.” Rhys said, “You’re hilarious Vaughn, now open the damn hatch!”

 

“Mion!” Shadow shouted, “If this is a joke, it’s not funny!”

 

All of them didn’t receive an answer from anyone.

 

“Why isn’t anyone answering?” Plutia asked questioningly.

 

“Damn it someone must’ve seen them outside.” Shadow said.

 

“In any case we should keep moving.” Sasha had said before saying to Plutia, “Don’t worry about Fiona Plutie, I’m sure she’s okay.”

 

“I hope you’re right.” Plutia said, and with that they all descended down the ladder. They had managed to hit the ground. “Alright Rhys.” Sasha said, “Where do we find the money?”

 

Rhys opened up the tracker, “The money is definitely in here. But from the looks of it’s on the move, so we had better hurry.”

 

The four went down the hall, be very careful what if there were any Bandits and such. There was silence between the four as they walked quietly. As they went towards the end of the hall Shadow couldn’t help but still think about the voice he heard while he was knocked out.

 

He was still trying to figure out who was speaking to him. The voice didn’t sound at all familiar, to him at least. “ ** _Damn it, this is driving me crazy._** ” Shadow thought to himself, “ ** _That person, whoever was talking to me. Does it somehow have something to do with that ID drive?_** ”

 

His eyes turned over to Rhys, “ ** _If Rhys plugged in that ID drive in his head, did he hear that person too? Well it couldn’t hurt to ask._** ”

 

He got his attention, “Hey Rhys? You mind of I ask you something?”

 

Rhys turned to him, “Yeah? What is it?”

 

Shadow had then said, “It’s about Nakayama’s ID drive. When you passed out after you plugged it into your brain, did you hear someone well… Talking to you?”

 

“Someone talking to me?” Rhys had asked him with a quizzical look, “What do you mean?”

 

“Like a voice that by the sound of it you could swear that you were almost getting taunted by him?”  
  


“Can I ask why you want to know this?”

 

“Well, for one thing, this will drive me crazy later on and… Earlier when I was unconscious, I heard someone talking to me. I don’t who he was, or why he would say what he said to me, and this might sound a bit crazy, but it seemed like **_he knew me somehow._** ”

 

Rhys thought to himself but eventually replied, “Now that you mention I heard someone talk to me.”

 

“Really?” Shadow said, “What did he say?”

 

“Probably the same thing you heard.”

 

“I see. I’ll be glad that I’m not the only one who heard him.”

 

They soon heard something come down the hallway. They turned to see that it was a giant cage filled skags. All of four of them moved to the wall so they wouldn’t get run over. Once it passed they quickly moved towards the end of the hall. The room was filled with only but six Bandits; two of them upstairs and the others downstairs. One of them had the case in hand.

 

“There it is!” Plutia whispered, “There’s the money!”

 

Three of the Bandits got into the center of the room; there in the middle of the floor was revealed to be a lift. They ascended up into the upper floors. Sasha then took out the gun and prepared to shoot one of them.

 

“Wait, wait! No, no, no, no, stop stop!” Rhys immediately said to her.

 

“I’ve got a shot though!” Sasha said back to him.

 

“No his right.” Shadow said to her, “It’s too late.”

 

Before Sasha could say something to the both of them, she saw another Bandit walking by, stopping a moment to look around. He walked away and they saw that the lift had already to where it needed to go.

 

“Crap.” Sasha said.

 

“Alright it’s obvious what we need to do now.” Shadow said, “We have to get up to that lift.”

 

“But they’re Bandits around.” Plutia said, “What do we do about them?”

 

“We’ll take them out.” Rhys had replied, “Besides there is only three of them.”

 

“Yup, that sounds easy.” Sasha said, “I’ll take out the one on the right and Shades will take out the one on the right. We’ll figure out how to take care of the one downstairs.”

 

“Alright that won’t be a problem. I’ll take care of him” Shadow said drawing his sword, “Rhys you back me up in case the other one tries to come at me.”

 

“You got it.” Rhys said to him.

 

“How are you going to-- Wait a minute, you sure he can handle it?” Sasha had asked him, “I mean has he experienced stuff like this?”

 

To which Rhys replied, “Oh I wouldn’t worry about me. I mean I did help Shadow take out a bunch of Bandits earlier today. Are you sure you can handle it?”

 

“Are… You serious?”

 

“I don’t know. You talk a big game but I haven’t seen you in action.”

 

“You just make sure you don’t get scuff on your little nice shoes okay Hyperion boy?”

 

“They’re skag skin.”

 

“They’re atrocious. Come on.”

 

Plutia had then asked, “I thought we were going to get the case, right?”

 

“Right.” They both said.

 

Shadow went ahead first and Rhys followed behind him. With his sword armed he snuck up behind the as Sasha took out the Bandit on her side. He pressed a button on the back of his sword, and a chain was released. He adjusted his aim and threw it towards the Bandits head, which had killed him instantly. Leaving Sasha and Plutia impressed.

 

He pulled back and the sword landed right back in his hand, without the Bandit in front of them noticing. He prepared to strike the other one when he suddenly he heard that loud ringing again, which caused him to groan; it had forced him to stop in place and fall to his knees he dropped his sword to the ground causing the Bandit to stop walking.

 

“Shadow!” Rhys whispered and quickly got to his side, “What’s the matter?”

 

Shadow didn’t answer; In fact he didn’t have time when Rhys saw the Bandit about to turn around. Rhys immediately went to rush the Bandit.

 

“Rhys no!” Shadow shouted.

 

Rhys jumped on the Bandits back and attempted to strangle the life out him, but--

 

“Oh, Eric?” The Bandit said, “Aw, is that you?”

 

“Are you kidding me!?” Shadow had exclaimed.

 

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, is this for real?” The Bandit said, after hearing Shadow, “Is this for real or is this--is this a joke?”

 

“ **OH THIS IS FOR REAL REAL!** ”

 

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, that’s not Eric!”

 

“ **NO! IT’S NOT ERIC! IT’S YOUR---DOOM! NOW STOP SQUIRMING!** ”

 

Sasha, Plutia and even Shadow were at a loss for words by what was happening at the moment as Rhys tried over and over again to choke the life out of the Bandit.

 

“Ummm…” Plutia said who was now standing beside Sasha, “Do you need help Rhys?”

 

“You look like you’re struggling there.” Sasha stated.

 

Rhys had shouted struggling to choke the man, “ **HEY RELAX!** ”

 

“Nah, nah, nah!” The Bandit shouted over to Sasha not making a big deal by what was happening at the moment, “Don’t help! Let him do it himself! If he can!”

 

“ **SERIOUSLY!?** ” Shadow shouted.

 

“ **SHUT UP!!** ” Rhys had shouted at the Bandit.

 

“Nah I think he’s right.” Sasha said with a smile, “You should handle it yourself.”

 

The Bandit managed get Rhys off in the process getting the stun baton fall out of his vest. “ **RHYS!!** ” Shadow exclaimed. The Bandit picked up the stun baton and pointed it at the two making them lift their arms up.

 

The Bandit laughed, “I got ya now!” He said, “Now get back man.”

 

“Uh-oh.” Plutia said, “This looks bad.”

 

“Wow.” Sasha said sarcastically, “Nicely done.”

 

“ **I DON’T NEED THIS RIGHT NOW!** ” Rhys shouted to her. The Bandit was going to kill them, but he just had one problem; he didn’t how to use the stun baton.

 

“Uh…” The Bandit said all confused, “How do you, uh… turn on the…”

 

Rhys and Shadow let out a smirk seeing as how the Bandit was holding the baton the wrong way. “Here let me get that for you.” Rhys said. He then turned on the stun baton with a press of the button. As soon as he did, the Bandit went flying  towards the wall letting go of the stun baton in the process letting Sasha and Plutia’s jaw drop. Shadow caught the stun baton and turned over to them; He handed it back to Rhys and they proceeded to brofist each other.

 

Plutia clapped, “That was amazing!” She said with a smile.

 

Shadow gave a wink while Rhys took a bow to Plutia, but saw that Sasha didn’t have much enthusiasm as her little sister did. “ **OH COME ON!** ” He said, “ **YOU CAN’T TELL ME THAT WASN’T COOL!** ”

 

Sasha rolled her eyes and shook her head and all she gave was a thumbs up. “Thank you.” He said.

 

“Alright no more fooling around.” Shadow said to them, “We gotta get that lift working.”

 

Rhys put the stun baton away and proceeded towards the computer. Rhys looked around the place, “Huh, I recognize this technology.” He said, “This is old Atlas tech.” Sasha and Plutia were the first to the computer. Sasha went ahead and tried to get into the computer's system.

 

Sasha growled and slammed her fist on the keyboard. “What’s wrong Big Sis?” Plutia asked her. “I can’t get in.” Sasha said, “This stupid thing needs a password.”

 

She continued to slam her fist, “You stupid piece of--!”

 

Rhys went to stop her, “Hey would you stop that!”

 

“You’re gonna end up breaking it if you keep using the computer as a punching bag!” Shadow told her.

 

Sasha immediately stopped.

 

“Listen.” Rhys said, “I can hack this, but I’m gonna need time.”

 

“Alright.” Sasha said, “Then do it.”

 

Rhys nodded his head and went straight to hacking while the rest kept a lookout. There was a bit of silence between the group; There was nothing but Rhys mumbling to himself as he started to hack.

 

Sasha finally broke the conversation when she said to Rhys, “I’m not gonna lie. Your friends there, Shadow and Mion was it? I never expected to see teens like them work for Hyperion.”

 

“Yeah well.” Rhys started to say, “Up there no one expected to see them work for Hyperion either.”

 

“Do they even realize what Hyperion did to us here on Pandora?” She asked, “All the havoc they caused when Jack was in charge? The pain?”

 

“They do. They do realize it. Besides it’s been crazy up there too. It just hasn’t been easy especially for them.”

 

Sasha was very curious about this now. “How did they end up in Hyperion anyway? I mean how did they come to work there?” Rhys replied as he typed, “I’ll be honest, I’ve only known the two for a short while. Shadow especially doesn’t really like to talk much of his personal life, but all we do know is believe it or not, they both grew up here on Pandora.”

 

Sasha’s eyes widened at that, “Seriously? He--” She turned to look over at him who was talking to Plutia at the moment. “Well that explains why he’s more experienced than you.”

 

Rhys had explained, “He said his mom died of an illness when he was a baby, so for awhile it was just him and his dad. He owned a weapons shop, called ‘The Blacksmith’ and sometimes he would help his old man out with making the weaponry. He even taught him how to use a sword and a gun.”

 

“Sounds like a great dad.” Sasha said, “What happened to him?”

 

“Well, the only thing that he told me was that he died when he was eleven.” Rhys said, “He never did say what the cause of his death was.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Like I said, he never liked talking about his personal life.”

 

Before Sasha could ask anything more they heard Plutia clear her throat. They turned to see that she was carrying around Shadow’s sword which made them jump. “Look at this big sis!” Plutia said waving it around a bit, “This makes me look so cool right?”

 

They both turned to Shadow and gave him a look. “She asked if she could hold it.” Shadow said, “She just wanted to see what it felt like holding that type of sword.”

 

“What about those elemental things you’re sword has?” Rhys asked, “Won’t she hurt herself?”

 

“Don’t worry about that.” Shadow replied, “The elemental abilities the sword has is programmed to activate on my DNA signature, so she won’t hurt herself.”

 

“This is a lot lighter than I thought it would be.” Plutia had said.

 

“Cool! That’s just like the Black Winds weapon!” Sasha said. Shadow froze at that name, but Rhys was a bit confused by that name. “Black who?” He asked.

 

“What? You mean to tell me that you Hyperion guys heard of most Vault Hunters but never heard of the Black Wind?” She asked.

 

“Can’t say that I have.” Rhys replied, “Who is he?”

 

Plutia had replied, “The Black Wind was a legend. He was a hunter, and a gun for hire and the only male Siren to ever exist. He took on any job no matter how dangerous it was. He even had Bandit Lords run scared of him.”

 

“Whoa, a hunter?” Rhys said, “You mean he was Vault Hunter?”

 

“No.” Sasha said, “He was a Bounty Hunter. He was never interested in things such as Vaults. Besides he earned himself a cult following here on Pandora. I even heard that when Handsome Jack was in charge of Pandora, the rebellion Crimson Raiders tried to recruit him, but he always turned them down. He was always the type to play the lone wolf.”

 

Plutia had added, “But despite him being a loner he always helped other people, whether if he was on the job or not. A lot of him people loved him for that, respected him.”

 

“Yeah.” Sasha had said, “No one knew who he was or if he was the bad guy or not, but everyone just looked up to him. He was like everyone’s role model.”

 

“Sounds like a really cool guy.” Rhys said, “I actually want to meet him.”

 

“I don’t think you’ll be able to.” Plutia said sadly, “He went missing a long time ago. A lot of people are saying that he was killed by Bandits.”

 

Sasha added, “A lot of people have been trying to find him, or at least his body if he is really dead, but most them just gave up.” Plutia was still looking at the sword and swung it around a couple of times, “But still, it’s really rare to hold a weapon like this. Only two of these weapons were ever made.”

 

“Three.” Shadow had corrected her causing everyone to look at him, “Three weapons were made actually.”

 

“How do you know that?” Rhys asked him as he went back to hacking the computer. Shadow had replied, “My father. I helped him make the sword. However the materials that we used to make them started to become scarce. We didn’t know where to get more. One of the three swords was stolen, the other was sold to an unknown buyer.”

 

“It’s no wonder they're super rare.” Sasha said.

 

“Hey would you look at us!” Rhys said with a smile, “We’re all like best friends now!”

 

“Not quite.” Sasha said with a smug look on her face.

 

Plutia then handed the sword back to Shadow. “Thanks for letting me hold it.” She said.

 

“You’re most welcome.” He said back to Plutia.

 

“And… We’re in!” Rhys said as he finished typing.

 

They heard speaker come on, “ ** _PASSWORD OVERRIDE. SYSTEM ONLINE._** ”

 

“Yes!” Rhys said, “That’s what I’m talking about!”

 

“Okay, I’m impressed.” Sasha said, “I suppose you’re not completely useless after all.”

 

Rhys had let out a sigh, “Well that’s a relief.”

 

“Alright than.” Shadow had said, “Let’s get that lift working.”

 

Rhys had then said, “Slight bad news I managed to get in but it didn’t give me the right clearance. Give me a second.”

 

Sasha took a moment to look at the skags up in the cages, “Well… hurry up.”

 

Rhys got out the controls to the room but saw that the controls were messed up. The three of the buttons were messed up and had error codes. “What the hell!?” Shadow exclaimed, “What’s up with the controls?!”

 

“I--I don’t know!” Rhys said.

 

“Well just push something!” Plutia had suggested.

 

Rhys pushed the button in the middle but it didn’t get the lift working; instead it had lowered the cages and released the skags.

 

“ **THAT’S NOT GOOD!** ” Shadow exclaimed.

 

“ **RHYS!?** ” Sasha shouted as she took position and started to fire on the skags.

 

“ **I CAN’T READ THE BUTTONS!** ” Rhys had explained, “ **THEY’RE ALL GLITCHED OUT! JUST--UH--I DON’T KNOW STAY OUT OF THERE WAY!!** ”

 

“ **THAT WON’T BE A PROBLEM!** ” Sasha shouted sarcastically as she started to fire on the skags.

 

Shadow was about to go help her when suddenly the ringing sounds started echo through his head again, the moment Rhys pressed the first button which played music. He fell to his knees and screamed a bit since it hurt more than it did last time.

 

“ **SHADOW!** ” Plutia shouted running to his side.  

 

Sasha had shouted as she continued to fire, “ **OH TERRIFIC! AT LEAST NOW WHEN WE DIE IT’LL HAVE A NICE SOUNDTRACK!!** ”

 

“ **HANG ON, HANG ON!** ” Rhys exclaimed, “ **I ALMOST GOT IT!!** ” But then, the voice which Shadow heard before spoke to him again when the ringing stopped; only this time Rhys heard it as well.

 

“ ** _dO YoU cHaMp?_** ” The voice had said, “ ** _YOu ALmOSt GoT It?_** ”

 

Both him and Shadow slightly jumped at the sound of it. “Yes he does!” Shadow had said to the voice. “He does what?” Sasha had asked.

 

“Nothing!” Rhys said, “He said nothing! Give me a second!”

 

He pressed the third and final button, which managed to get what they needed. The lift started to move. “ **QUICK!! GET ON!!** ” Rhys shouted to them. Shadow and Plutia ran to the lift, but Plutia tripped and fell on her face. A skag attempted to jump on her, but Shadow threw his sword which was attached to the chain and it killed the skag instantly.

 

“ **COME ON!!** ” Shadow shouted, as he grabbed her arm and ran to the lift with her.

 

The ringing in Shadow’s head started again and Rhys grasped his head when they heard the voice speak to them again.

 

“ ** _lOoK aT tHE TwO oF yOU._** ” The voice said, “ ** _a PaIR Of ReAL wINnERs._** ”

 

They both turned to each other. “Seriously, who is that!?” Shadow couldn’t help but shout.

 

“How the hell should I know!?” Rhys shouted back. Plutia turned and saw another skag on the second floor. “ **BIG SIS! GUYS!!** ” Plutia exclaimed when she saw it, " **THERE'S A SKAG THERE!!** " 

 

Shadow attempted to throw his sword but the chain ended up getting stuck. “ **SON OF A BITCH! NOT NOW!!** ” He shouted angrily.

 

Sasha attempted to shoot it, but realized that she was out of ammo. The skag jumped at them and they ended up screaming as they shut their eyes to prepare the intense pain. They were all surprised when they didn’t feel the skag bite either of them.

 

They opened their eyes and were surprised to see that it appeared to be stuck in midair.

 

“It stopped?” Plutia couldn’t help but ask. They soon saw the reason why the skag got stuck in midair. Zer0 had appeared right in front of them, with his sword in hand.

 

He removed the skag from his blade and turned to them. “Could you let me know / if you see a **_Gortys Core_** / I really need it.” Zer0 had asked them; none of them could answer. Zer0 had noticed Shadow there not surprised by what had just happened. He silently nodded to him in greeting, and Shadow did the same not letting anyone notice except for Plutia.

 

Rhys had then said to him hesitantly, “Sure… Yeah. We’ll let you know.”

 

Zer0’s mask lit up an emoji which was _**:D**_ and proceeded to put his blade away. Rhys got the tracker up as they ascended to the upper floors along with the Vault Hunter.

 

**_(Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace)_ **

 


	8. Enter the Death Race

**_(Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1)_ **

 

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; Supposedly Abandoned Building (Fiona’s P.O.V)_** -

 

“Alright so… Divide and conquer?” Mion had suggested.

 

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Vaughn had said.

 

Rhys had suggested, “Alright than, Shadow and I will go down there to see what we can find.”

 

Fiona had then added, “Sasha and Plutia will go with the two of you. The rest of us will stay out here to keep a look out.”

 

“Sounds good to me.” Shadow said.

 

“You and Rhys be careful down there.” Mion had said to them.

 

Both Rhys and Shadow nodded their heads, and then they proceeded down the hatch. Plutia and Sasha soon followed in after them. Just as they were halfway down the hatch, they heard someone shout out, “Hey, you three!”

 

“Oh crap.” Mion mumbled to herself. They turned to see that it was a Bandit.

 

“Get away from there!” He said to them. Fiona had immediately closed the hatch so that the others wouldn’t get spotted as the Bandit approached them. “What a strange little group we got here.” The Bandit said, “We got Glasses Face, Hat Lady and Balloon Girl. You guys really know how to accessorize.”

 

Mion immediately put her arms over her chest and said with some tears, “Well you didn’t have to put it like that.”

 

He had ignored what Mion had stated and said, “What are you three doing here?”

 

“Hey uh…” Vaughn started to say, “Huh… This is a funny story actually… So, we’re---We’re here for--What was the question again?”

 

“More importantly…” Fiona had said, “What are YOU doing here is more like it?”

 

The Bandit had replied, “Okay… Uh, you’re not supposed to answer a question with a question. I already know what I’m doing here.”

 

“Really?” Fiona said while raising an eyebrow, “And what would that be?”

 

“Wow. That’s aggressive. Sort of caught me off guard… Uh…”

 

The Bandit tried to think about how to answer them exactly.

 

“Don’t be shy.” Fiona said to him.

 

“I prep cars…” The Bandit replied, “For drivers.”

 

Mion’s eyes widened at that. Than she immediately asked, “Wait a minute. Would this be a race track by any chance?” The Bandit had said to her, “Ye--yeah. If it wasn’t than I wouldn’t prepping cars.”

 

“Race track?” Both Fiona and Vaughn said in unison.

 

“So…” The Bandit said, “You familiar with this race?”

 

“Of course I am!” Mion said with a smirk, “Why I participated with the race champ! The name Black Wind ring a bell?” The Bandit thought why the name sounded familiar; after such a short amount of time of thinking he realized where he heard that name.

 

“Oh yeah!” The Bandit replied, “I remember him! He was such a great guy, always knew how to just kill it out there.”

 

“Black Wind?” Vaughn had said.

 

“Hold on, you mean to tell me you’re Black Winds partner?” The Bandit said, “Game Master ***** right?”

 

**_(*As a reference to Mion’s strategical mind in the anime Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni; Apologies if it’s not accurate.)_ **

 

Vaughn and Fiona both looked at each other when they heard the name “Game Master”.

 

Mion nodded her head, “Yup that’s me, the one and only.”

 

“Well why didn’t you just say so?” The Bandit had asked, “Your friends there drivers or what?”

 

Fiona whispered to Mion, “What are you doing?”

 

Mion whispered back to him, “Just play along.” She then said to the Bandit, “Yes, they are racers! They’re really good friends of mine and they were hoping to race around the track. Isn’t that right guys?” Both Fiona and Vaughn both sighed; seeing as how they had no choice they did as Mion had said, “Play along.”

 

“We just love to race!” Fiona immediately said, “It’s been our dream, for like, ever!”

 

“Definitely.” Vaughn added, “It’s our favorite!”

 

The Bandit (Buying their story) had then said, “Well then, I guess you're in the right place.”

 

“Vroom. Vroom.” Vaughn couldn’t help but say, which made Mion slap her face and Fiona let out a painful sigh as she smiled awkwardly. “Yeah…” The Bandit said awkwardly, “That’s what they sound like, vroom, vroom.”

 

Mion said to the Bandit, “It’s been such a long time since I participated in a race like this, and especially since Black Wind went missing.”

 

“I know, it’s a real shame.” The Bandit said to her, “Don’t worry I’ll get you a ride.”

 

“Oh thank you!” Mion said with a smile, “We’d really appreciate that.” The three proceeded to follow the Bandit towards the garage. They stopped just outside with a metal trunk.

 

“Oh, hey.” The Bandit said getting their attention, “I got something that might interest you. If you guys are going to be racing, you should look the part.”

 

He opened the metal trunk and it was revealed to have three masks; One a Psycho Mask, Skeletal Menace Mask and a Steve Mask. “Picked these up from the last race.” The Bandit explained, “The whole floor was littered with them; cleaned most of the blood off.”

 

Mion had recognized the Menace Mask. “Well hello old friend.” She said picking up, “Mind if I take this one?”

 

“Sure.” The Bandit replied, “You just gotta pay up,”

 

Mion got the amount of money that the mask cost and handed it to the Bandit. He then turned to Fiona and Vaughn, “Alright that just leaves the two of you. Take your pick.” Fiona and Vaughn couldn’t exactly pay for the other masks. The only one that was free was a Psycho Mask; so they had to go with that.

 

“Good choice.” The Bandit said to them as they picked up their mask; they turned to the Bandit.

 

“Okay, if anyone asks, you didn’t get these from me. Now get going! Your ride is waiting!” The Bandit told them.

 

A truck had pulled in. Up in the back there appeared to be two motorcycles and a giant cart. The three turned to each other and smiled. They got on their masks and got on there rides.

* * *

 

- ** _Within the Garage_** -

 

The truck pulled up within the garage. Most of the Bandits were giving very strange looks when they saw the new riders enter; As Fion and Mion tried to get the motorcycle off of Vaughn which had fallen over when he attempted to start the engine. Mion had managed to get the motorcycle to stand up and Fiona helped Vaughn to sit upright.

 

“I did say it was all about balance didn’t I?” Mion said through her mask as she patted him on the back.  

 

All Vaughn did was let out a sigh, and said as he brushed himself, “I could’ve been on a nice clean space station right now tabulating columns of beautiful numbers.”

 

“But you’ve gotta admit that was pretty boring.” Mion said to Vaughn, “You gotta get some excitement once in awhile.”

 

“Okay.” Fiona said to the two, “Am I the only one who has the funny smell in the mask?”

 

“No it’s not just you.” Vaughn said picking up the same scent as Fiona was.

 

“That’s probably the stench that the last people that wore these mask before.” Mion told them, “Don’t worry after awhile the smell will fade.”

 

Fiona had said to the the two, “Look the important thing is that we’re inside and away from that…” Her words started to trail off when she saw that within the garage it was filled with a whole bunch other Bandits, which caused her jaw to drop in her mask.

 

“Bandits.” She finished putting together what she saw. She removed her mask as did Mion and Vaughn.

 

“Well on the bright side they seem a bit preoccupied.” Mion said to them.

 

Panic started to rise as he looked upon the many Bandits. “This is bad!” He said, “This is bad! What the hell have we gotten ourselves into here!?”

 

“What do you mean?” Mion asked him.

 

“What do I mean? What do I mean?” Vaughn had said, “Have you surveyed the situation?! I mean look around! They’re psychos, motor chariot-thingies, and sponsors!”

 

Fiona had said to Mion, “You know I’m going to take a shot in the dark here based on what your friend over there looks like but… I’m guessing he’s not really into sports.”

 

“You mean bloodsports?” Vaughn had asked Fiona.

 

“Oh come on.” Fiona said, “I’m sure you’d call any game where you can skin your knee a bloodsport.”

 

“You shouldn’t worry too much though Vaughn.” Mion said, “It’s just a simple race. As you long as you stay calm and have a clear head you’ll be able to pull through.” They drove towards a flat screen TV with the Bandit Lord from Bossanova on the screen.

 

“ ** _The race will begin-- uh-- oh--_** ” Bossanova started to say soon stopped mid-sentence when he realized that his speakers were off. “What an ass…” Fiona couldn’t help but say as she rolled her eyes.

 

Bossanova spoke again with his speakers on, “ ** _The race will begin in 30 minutes! 30 minutes until race time!_** ”

 

“Are you kidding me with this!?” Vaughn exclaimed.

 

“Look, just take a page from your friends book and just relax.” Fiona said to him.

 

“How can I relax?’ He said, “They’re guns, guns and more guns! What are we supposed to do? I don’t know how you can handle it Mion, but I’m sick of guns pointed at me.”

 

“Hey, you’d be surprised how I managed to live through it.” Mion said to him. All Fiona did was let out a sigh and say, “Anyway, for now we need to find Sasha and Plutia… and your two friends, Rhys and Shadow.”

 

“I guess you’re right.” Vaughn said.

 

Mion had then said with a worried tone, “I really hope they’re okay.”

 

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Fiona reassured, “We just need to get to them first, somehow.”

 

“Yeah… That’s what’s upsetting me.” Vaughn had said.

 

They heard Bossanova say on the TV screen, “ ** _And awaiting to today’s earlier happenings the grand prize for tonight’s race is…_** ”

 

He held up the case that they were looking for in the first place for everyone in the racetrack to see. “ ** _...A one of a kind Hyperion mystery box! No one has been able to open it, but you know you want it._** ”

 

“I guess we have to win the race to get the money.” Fiona said to the two of them.

 

“Yup that’s the plan!” Mion said with a smile.

 

“You two make it sound sound so simple.” Vaughn had said.

 

Fiona said with her words trailing off a bit, “It is Simple… Ish…”

 

Soon enough their vehicle was dropped off at one of the entrances of the supposed racetrack. They started to getting everything together. While Mion was making sure that she was packed with enough ammo for her gun. Earlier she picked up another gun which was a shotgun. She was deciding if she she should just put regular bullets or elemental bullets.

 

Fiona approached her and leaned up against their ride as Mion tried her best to decide.

 

“So…” Fiona said starting up a conversation, “You’re Game Master huh?”

 

“Well…” Mion replied, “Yeah, that’s me.”

 

Mion decided to put elemental bullets within the shotgun.

 

“Did you really live here on Pandora and participate in things like this?” Fiona asked her.

 

Mion nodded her head, “Yup, born and raised. And yeah, I used to enter races all the time to get a hell of a lot of money to get by.”

 

After she filled the shotgun with the elemental bullets, she went to sharpen her blade. “Not only that I went to events like Mercenary Day and got into all sorts of crazy ass adventures, sometimes for the money, sometimes for fun, and most of the time helping people.”

 

“I take it that most of those adventures and races you participated in you were with the Black Wind?” Fiona couldn’t help but ask.

 

Mion winced in pain when she felt herself cut her finger on the blade. She waved her hand around getting rid of the pain before sticking her finger her mouth to stop the additional pain. “That Bandit guy mentioned it before.” Fiona had said, “Did you really race with the Black Wind himself?”

 

“Ye--yeah.” Mion said hesitantly as she removed her finger from her mouth, “That’s also correct.”

 

“So, you knew him personally?”

 

“Yeah. Shades and I participated with the Black Wind in races a couple times. Like the guy said he was a reigning champ.”

 

“Shades? Oh you must mean Shadow. What, he didn’t get a cool name like you did?”

 

Mion shook her head, “Nah, he wasn’t really a fan of having names like me. He was always the serious type. Don’t bother asking if we ever saw his face, because well… We didn’t.” Fiona was really curious now. Not only was she curious about how she and Shadow met the Black Wind, but what struck her as odd still, is how they ended up in the worst company possible Hyperion.

 

“Just out of curiosity…” Fiona said, “How did you and your friend end up working in one of the worst places possible on Pandora?”

 

Mion checked out her blade after she finished sharpening her blade. Mion let out a sigh and said, “Trust me when I say… It’s a bit complicated to how we started working with Hyperion.”

 

“Complicated how?”

 

“Complicated as in, I’m not sure how to explain it without anyone trying to immediately rage on me and Shades the minute I try to explain it.”

 

“Must be a good reason than.”

 

“In a way yes, but it’s more of Shades reason than it is mine.”

 

Fiona tilted her head slightly in a bit of confusion. She was about to ask that when Mion had told her, “Sorry, I made a promise to Shades that I wouldn’t talk about anything personal.”

 

“He doesn’t like talking about anything personal?” Fiona said.

 

Mion nodded her head before replying, “He never likes to talk about it to anyone. He has his reasons. Like he has his own for working with Hyperion.”

 

“What about you?” Fiona couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t you have a reason?”

 

“Not really.” She replied, “But no matter what Shadow chooses, I’ll follow him, no matter what.”

 

As Vaughn was double checking the engine of the motorcycle, he found himself being stared down by someone. He turned but immediately jumped and screamed when he saw that it was a Bandit. Both Fiona and Mion came rushing over.

 

“ **WHOA! WHOA!** ” Vaughn exclaimed as the Psycho leaned in closer while Vaughn just backed up from his face.

 

“Oh hey you made a new friend.” Fiona said jokingly.

 

“Mion help me out here!” Vaughn said, “I think this guy wants to eat my eyeballs.”

 

“That’s a bit drama--”

 

Fiona was cut off when the Psycho suddenly said, “Tasty eyeballs… Good for fricassee!!!”

 

“Mion!” Vaughn said.

 

“Alright calm down and don’t lean in.” Mion said to him, “That’s just what he wants you to do.”

 

The Psycho suddenly yelled out, “My doom-buggy! Filthy death stealer!!”

 

“No, no, no!” Vaughn immediately said, “You’ve got this all wrong! We didn’t do anything!”

 

“Talking to him won’t do anything!” Mion said with a bit of panic.

 

Vaughn then turned to Fiona, “If you let him kill me, you’ll never get the money.”

 

Fiona than said putting her hand on her hip, “Oh yeah, sure I will. Felix can bypass any lock. He’ll have your case open faster than this guy can eat your lips.”

 

“Urrrrrghhh!!” The Psycho shouted before he started to make a grab for Vaughn. Vaughn immediately started to move away from his hands, desperately avoiding his hands.

 

Mion then turned to Fiona and shouted, “That may be true but I highly doubt he can diffuse a bomb linked to Vaughn’s bio-signature!!”

 

Fiona’s eyes widened by what Mion had just told her, “ **A BOMB!?** ” She exclaimed before grasping her shoulders, “ **YOU GUYS PUT A BOMB IN THAT CASE!?** ” The Psycho managed to grab a hold of Vaughn and tried to pull him off. “ **GAH! HEY LET ME GO!!** ” Vaughn shouted.

 

Mion got Fiona’s hands off of her, “Nevermind that!” She said to her, “Just hurry up and head butt the guy!”

 

“What!?” Fiona said, “How will that help!?”

 

“It will help!!” Mion told her, “Just trust me and just do it!!”

 

Fiona immediately went over to the Psycho. She grabbed his head and hit him with her own head. She backed up, holding her head as she groaned. After the Psycho recovered from the impact, he threw his arms up in the air and shouted, “ **MEAT BUDDIES RIDIN’ THE DEATH TRAIN!!** ”

 

“Holy shit it worked.” Fiona said.

 

“Told you.” Mion said with a smile.

 

They suddenly heard the doors unlocking from the outside. “Uh… What was that noise?” Vaughn asked.

 

They heard Bossanova over the PA again, “ ** _What’s this? Hooo!! Sounds like we’re starting early!_** ”

 

The three got on their masks and onto the vehicle.

 

“ **DYIN’ HIGH ON A PSYCHO-CYCLE!!** ” The Psycho shouted.

 

Fiona and Mion climbed in on the back; Mion arming herself with the shotgun. “You Pandorans are all crazy!” Vaughn said, “You do know that right?”

 

“What can I say?” Mion said to him, “It’s a requirement!”

 

“Drivers drive!!” The Psycho continued to shout, “ **DRIVERS DRIVE!!** ”

 

“ **LET’S KICK THE TIRES AND LIGHT SOME FIRES!!** ” Fiona shouted with enthusiasm.

 

“Let’s…” Vaughn had said, “Try not to die.”

 

The doors opened and it revealed the race track. Fiona couldn’t help but say, “Okay, I’ll admit… That looks pretty dangerous.”

 

“That’s what makes it fun!” Mion said.

 

They heard the Psycho say, “Life come… Life go… **GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!!** ” The engines started to rev up, and thus they started to drive straight onto the track. “This is fine!!” Fiona shouted, “We’re okay!!”

 

“We’re gonna freaking die!!” Vaughn couldn’t help but shout.

 

They drove right onto the track with the other racers, and at that very same moment, Rhys, Shadow, Sasha and Plutia along with the Vault Hunter Zer0 had entered the arena that lied in the very center of the race track.

 

**_(Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace)_ **

 


	9. The Rose with Thorns

( ** _Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening_** )

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; Death Race (Rhys & Shadow’s P.O.V)_**-

“ ** _And now--maniacs, degenerates and scumdogs-- it’s time for what you’ve all been waiting for: the very first motorized killtacular event of Murder Rally twelve-thousand! Also known as That Big Chariot Race Thing Where Everyone Dies!_** ”

Rhys, Shadow, Sasha, Plutia and the Vault Hunter Zer0 was riding the lift and they had unknowingly entered the middle of the arena of the Death Race. The small group looked around the track. “Whoa… They certainly changed the style of the vehicles.” Shadow couldn’t help but say.

“Yeah, no.” Sasha said, “I really don’t like this!”

“This looks scary!” Plutia said now hugging her doll named Iris, “I don’t like it here!”

“Don’t worry!” Rhys reassured her, “We’ve got Zer0 with us, right buddy?”

Zer0 said nothing to him, he didn’t even turn to look at the small group. Instead he had his eyes on Bossanova who was on what appeared to be a crane.

They heard Bossanova say:

“ ** _Whoever is the last mongrel still screaming at the end of the race will win the Hyperion Mystery Case of Wonder!_** ”

“I really, really, really don’t like this!” Sasha couldn’t help but say.

“I’m scared!” Plutia had exclaimed before grabbing Sasha’s leg.

“Just stay calm it’ll be okay.” Shadow had said to her.

Soon enough Bossanova noticed the Vault Hunter standing in the arena.

“Zer0!” Bossanova said before announcing, “ ** _Uh… actually, the uh, last freak standing still gets the mystery box, but whoever kills that guy, gets twenty g’s cold hard cash!_** ”

“Huh?” Plutia had said, “Where did Zer0 go?”

They saw that Zer0 wasn’t in front of them anymore. They turned and instead found him standing on one of the containers with a sniper in his hand. With a single shot he shot the case right out of Bossanova’s hands; it had landed just a few feet in front of them.

“ ** _I’m gonna drum you upside the head, shred you to bits, and de-base your corpse!_** ” Bossanova had yelled, “ ** _YOU PLASTIC NINJA FREAK!!_** ” He attacked Zer0 with the soundwaves from the speaker in his chest. Luckily Zer0 managed to dodge the attack with ease.

The small group ran to the side to avoid the attacks from the bandit lord.

“Okay, let’s go!” Sasha had said.

“Big sis wait!” Plutia shouted running after Sasha.

Shadow turned to Rhys; they both shrugged and ran after them. A Psycho soon came into the arena riding on a motorcycle stopping the small group in their, tracks. He managed to grab the case that was filled with the money. He stopped and drove straight towards them.

“Plutia get behind me!” Sasha shouted to her little sister; Plutia did what she was told.

Sasha pulled out her gun and shot at the Psycho. She managed to get a hit on him causing him to lose control of the bike. The bike fell on it’s side and headed straight for Shadow and Rhys. Shadow managed to jump over the bike while Rhys quickly moved to the side.

A few more Bandits came into the arena as well as another Psycho. The Psycho picked up the case while the Bandits fired at them. The small group ran to the side to avoid the bullets.  

“Sasha, can you back me up?” Shadow asked her, drawing his sword.

“I can’t make any promises.” Sasha told him.

“Just keep those bullets off of me, I’m gonna try and grab the case.” He said before charging at the Bandits, killing one of them.  

Most of the Bandits turned their attention to Shadow occupying him so that he couldn’t go after the Psycho that had the case, but some continued to fire on them. Sasha managed to hit the Bandits, but one of them ducked to the side. “Ahh okay…” Sasha said, “We need to get out of here, we’re outnumbered!”

“I’m open to ideas!” Rhys said.

It wasn’t long till they heard a ringtone go off. “Huh? What’s that noise?” Plutia asked.

“That’s gotta be Yvette!” Rhys said immediately answering the call, “ **YES!** She can send the Loader Bot!”

But it wasn’t Yvette, it had turned out the one who called was Vasquez.

“ _Oh Professor Nakayama!_ ” He said, “ _You sound different._ ”

“Who is that?” Plutia asked Rhys.

“Vasquez.” Rhys said.

A Bandit came out from his hiding place and tried to shoot Sasha in the head; Sasha however managed to shoot the Bandit to the ground.

“Is that your boss?” She asked while firing.

Rhys didn’t answer, he just talked to Vasquez, “You know what, I really don’t have time for--”

“ _Then I’ll make this fast._ ” Vasquez said cutting him off, “ _I know about the Vault Key, chum. Okay? I know. So now we’ve got this problem: a lot of Hyperion cheddar’s missing._ ”

A Bandit came up behind Sasha. “ **BIG SIS! BEHIND YOU!** ” Plutia shouted. Sasha was almost taken by surprise by the Bandit, but instead, Shadow caught the Bandit by surprise by using one of which was fire; it burned his leg with the swing of his sword causing him to cry out in agony and he kicked the Bandit to the side.

“Thanks.” Sasha said to him, “I owe you one!”

Shadow didn’t reply, and noticed Rhys on the phone with someone all too familiar to him. “Rhys please, tell me that’s not Vasquez you’re talking to.” He said throwing his sword to a Bandit killing him.

“ _Look._ ” Vasquez said over the phone, “ _No one else needs to know about this little faux pas, all right? So you bring the money and… tell you what? I’ll give you your old job back. Before the janitor thing. The respectable job._ ”  

Rhys turned to Shadow who sliced bullets and blocked bullets from the Bandits that had fired.

“What about Shadow?” Rhys asked him (Luckily Shadow didn’t hear since he was too focused on the Bandits), “Does he get his job back?”

“ _Yeah… No._ ” Vasquez replied, “ _See here’s the thing, someones gotta take the fall here, so we just have to blame it on him, and your two other pals, Vaughn and Mion. Okay? I mean it is Vaughn’s ID associated with the account transfer, and it does seem like something Mion and Shadow would come up with since they were born there and they've done nothing but lie and steal, so it would make sense._ ”

“And why on Pandora would I trust you Vasquez?”

“ _Because that’s a lot of money. Money I want. Money I don’t have. Money you have. Money--_ ”

“Yeah, okay, I get it.”

“ _Look as much as I hate to admit, you screwed me. You really did. Cool moves, Rhys. Cool moves. Hyperion will want my dick in a sling. So you get your cybernetic rear up here with the money and I’ll split it with you fifty-fifty. You scratch my nuts and I’ll scratch yours, that kind of thing._ ”

Sasha couldn’t help but roll her eyes, “Really?” She said while she continued to fire.  

Plutia who was listening to their conversation the whole looked at Rhys with eyes of worrying. She asked Rhys, “You're not going to do it are you?” Plutia had asked him tugging on his arm, “You won’t do it will you?”

Rhys turned to her but didn’t say anything to her; he just saw the look that that she was giving him. He will be honest with himself, it was a pretty sweet deal, but he couldn’t let that get to his head. He’s friends and him are all a team.

He couldn’t just stab them in the back just like that. Plus even if he did accept his deal, Shadow wouldn’t be able to get his job back, him and Shadow both made a promise that he would be the head Hyperion, and Shadow his right hand man.

He couldn’t leave him in the dark of all that.

“You know what? For all I care you can go ahead and scratch your own nuts.” Rhys had said, “Because I’m not gonna turn my back against my friends like that!”

“Scratching nuts? That sounds a bit dirty.” Plutia couldn’t but say to Rhys.

“I agree.” Sasha added.

Vasquez was a bit surprised by what Rhys had said.

“ _Oh I’ll scratch em. I’ll scratch em real hard._ ” He said, “ _You messed up Rhys. You coulda been back home living the good life. Passing that up for the sake of your friends. Ya have fun dying on the poop chute of a planet where you belong._ ”

With that Vasquez hung up.

“Good riddance to that guy.” Shadow had said to Rhys hearing what he had said to him.

Sasha had said, “No more phone calls okay? We have to--”

Sasha was cut off when they the Psycho from earlier jump over them with the case in his hand. “Hey!” Plutia shouted, “Get back here!” She then after the Psycho.

“Kid wait!!” Shadow shouted as he ran after her.

Sasha had shouted before saying to Rhys, “Plutia hold up!! Come on, after them!!” The Psycho ran to the garage just on the other end of the arena. He pressed the big green button and the door opened; The Psycho ran inside.

They stopped in their tracks when they saw the Psycho run back out screaming like a girl. Out of the darkness came an alpha skag. It managed to grab the Psycho and started to chomp on him. “ **HOLY HELL!!** ” Shadow couldn’t help but exclaim.

“ **THE MONEY!!** ” Plutia exclaimed.

Rhys ran and grabbed the Psycho’s legs and tried to pull him out of the skags mouth. But instead he only pulled the bottom half of the Psycho out of the skags mouth. Rhys shrieked and immediately dropped the legs. Plutia’s eyes were wide with shock, as was Shadow and Sasha’s eyes when they heard a gulp sound from the skag.  

“Did it just…” Shadow had said with his words trailing off.

“Swallow the case?” Rhys finished for him, “Yeah, it just did that.”

“Well, one of you get it out!!” Sasha shouted.

“That’s easier said than done!” The teen said to Sasha.

The alpha skag slowly walked towards Rhys. Rhys hit it with his stun baton; but the giant skag shook it off. Rhys did the only thing he could think; run away from the skag.

“ **DAMN IT RHYS!!** ” Shadow had shouted running after him.

“ **GET BACK HERE!!** ” Sasha shouted running not too far behind from Shadow.

Rhys ducked to the side and the skag slide by him. Sasha started to fire right on the giant skag, and threw the sword at the skags leg hoping to hinder its movements. But it didn’t seem to have any effect.

“ **GAH SON OF A TAINT!!** ” Shadow shouted angrily.

He soon saw Zer0 atop on one of the crates where Rhys took cover. He saw Bossanova aim right where Zer0 stood when he was distracted the by the alpha skag. “ **RHYS WATCH OUT!!** ” He yelled over to him. Rhys took cover when Bossanova’s soundwaves fired towards Zer0, hitting them both, and the crates shattered into pieces.

None of them didn’t realize that Plutia still standing there, with her hands twitching and her blood boiled with anger.

“It ate it…” She said to herself, “It ate the money…”

The markings on her arm and legs started to glow purple instead of blue. “That makes me mad.” She said, “So very mad…”

With the alpha skag knocked out more Bandits came in; Sasha fired upon them. She soon felt this uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach and quickly turned to Plutia; she noticed her marks glowing purple. “Oh crap…” Sasha said.

Shadow turned to Plutia and noticed the change in her expression, as did Rhys; they saw that she had a sadistic smile plastered on her face and she was chuckling to herself. As this happened Bandits began to surround the little one.

“Uhhh…” Rhys started to say, “Is that normal for her?”

“I don’t think so.” Shadow said to him.

They soon heard Sasha yell, “ **PLUTIA NO!! DON’T LET HER OUT!** ”

Plutia had said to Sasha with a smile, “Sorry big sis. But I don’t think I can control myself now. I know you, big sister and Felix tell me not to let her out, but now I can’t help it.”

The Bandits prepared to fire, causing Shadow to run towards where she stood to try and help her.

“ **SHADOW WAIT!!** ” Sasha shouted to him, “ **DON’T!** ”

With a single blink of her eyes it had changed from magenta to red, “Something...someone is going to die…”

All of sudden Shadow stopped his tracks when a bright purple light illuminated all around her body, blinding everyone there. When the light stopped shining everyone was shocked to see, instead of a preteen standing in the arena, it was a fifteen year old girl. The ribbon that once held her braided hair fell to the ground letting her long hair flow through the wind.

Instead of the color lavender her hair was dark purple and had transitioned to a lilac blue at the ends. Her marks were purple instead of the usual light blue, and she was taller; her eyes were a cherry red color.

Shadow had soon realized she had the same appearance as Plutia’s doll which was still attached to her belt.

She took in the air and let out a sigh and a smile, “Ahhh, it feels so good to be out.” She said with her voice different and as she stretched her limbs, “And here I thought I was going to be left out of the party.”

Shadow’s jaw dropped at the sight of the woman before him.

“What the…?” He couldn’t help but say.

Sasha said as she rubbed her eyes, "This is the last thing, we didn't want to happen."

“ **WHO IN THE HELL IS THAT!?** ” Rhys shouted, “ **AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT GIRL PLUTO!?** ”

“It’s Plutia.” Sasha corrected, before groaning, “And believe it or not… that is her.”

Rhys’s eyes widened in shock and his jaw dropped as well, “That’s… **WHAT!?** ”

“Plutia?” Shadow said with disbelief, “ **SHE’S PLUTIA!?** ”

The woman let out a chuckle and placed a hand on her hip, “Now the party can really get started.” She said all while doing the peace sign.

* * *

 

**_IRIS HEART_ **

**_THE ROSE WITH THE POISONOUS THORNS_ **

* * *

 

Iris looked around her and whistled at the fact that at least five Bandits had guns pointed towards her. “Well, well, well…” She said, “I didn't expect someone to roll out the red carpet. Am I to take it that you boys are going to take me out to dance? Fine, I’ll lead.”

Her marks started to glow a bright purple color; in her left hand there materialized a sword. The Bandits on her all at once. Iris spun as if she was a ballerina dancer and her sword had suddenly moved like a whip and cut off the surrounding Bandits heads off.

“ **HOLY SHIT!!** ” Rhys and Shadow couldn’t help but exclaim. Iris stopped spinning and turned to Sasha, Shadow and Rhys. “So then…” She said placing the sword on her shoulder, “Who do I have to fuck so that I can be satisfied?”

“Ummm…” Rhys said turning to Sasha, “So is this a thing she does?”

“That’s a bit hard to explain.” Sasha said, “Let’s just say, Iris is used for emergencies only, and we clearly told Plutia not to let her out! At least not right now!”

Iris had said, “Oh how you wound me, my dear sister Sasha. I’ve come all this way just to see you, and this is how you greet me? Shame on you.”

“Look Iris, we’re kind of in the middle of something right now.” Sasha said, “So just--”

“Who do you think I am? A fool?” Iris said cutting her off, “I know about the little money problem.”

Shadow and Rhys were both surprised at this. “Wait a minute you know about--”

Shadow was cut off when he saw the alpha skag got up from the floor.

“Oh crap.” Rhys couldn’t help but say.

“Ooo, he’s a big fella isn’t he?” Iris had said with a smile, “And sure as hell ugly.”

Iris stepped forward with her sword in hand. “She’s not planning on taking that thing on by herself is she?!” Shadow said to Sasha.

“You’d be surprised on what she can take on.” Sasha told him.

Iris chuckled to herself as she approached the alpha skag. “So your the one that pissed Plutia off and let me out. I appreciate it. Really I do.”    

The alpha skag charged at Iris, and attempted to bit off her face. Iris had dodged with ease and send a powerful kick right in the skags face, making Shadow and Rhys’s jaw drop at the site of what she had just did. The alpha skag toppled over on it’s side.

Iris couldn’t help but laugh and spun her sword. “Seriously? Is that really all you got? Man what a joke.”

The alpha skag got up and charged at her again; doing yet another attempt to bit her face again.

“Seriously? Don’t you ever learn?” Iris said with a smirk. With her left arm, her arm glowed a purple light and punched it’s face actually knocking a tooth out. Than with her sword she stabbed it in the eye causing to cry out in pain. Iris removed her blade and couldn’t help but lick the blood off of her blade as the alpha skag tried to shake off the pain. She licked her lips, “That’s what you get when you come face to face with me.”

Iris than heard Sasha shout, “Look Iris, not disturb you from your fun but we’ve got bigger problems! We gotta get the money out of that skags stomach!”

“Okay, okay.” Iris said with a pouty look, “You also gotta kill my fun don’t you Sasha?”

Iris prepared to cut the skags stomach that was until--

“ **LOOK OUT!!** ” Shadow had shouted.

“Huh?” Iris said before she felt something hit her hard; turns out it was the skags giant paw. The impact caused her to let go of her blade and fly into a pile of crates.

“ **IRIS!!** ” Sasha shouted running over to her. Shadow and Rhys ran over to help Sasha move the crates off of Iris.

“Good God are you okay!?” Rhys asked her helping her up.

Iris managed to stand on her on two feet. She stretched her arms and cracked her neck. She couldn’t help but chuckle, “He packs a punch doesn’t he?” She pushed Rhys off as well as Sasha, “Step aside ladies, let Iris show you how it’s done.”

She spun her sword a couple of times and went over to the skag.

“Is she insane!?” Shadow exclaimed, “She just got hit by that thing and she still plans on taking it on!?”

“Good God, this is why we use her for emergencies…” Sasha said, while rubbing her forehead.

The alpha skag prepared to charge at her again. Iris cracked her wrist, “You ready for round two big boy?”

The alpha skag gave her one final charge, and in turn Iris charged at it and swung her sword. This had caused the alpha skag to jump right over her.

“Gotcha.” She said with a smirk. She lifted the sword above her head and the blade made contact with it’s stomach. It’s stomach had sliced open and she was soon drenched in it’s blood; her dress became stained as was her hair and all of it’s insides fell out.

The alpha skag was dead in an instant.

Rhys and Shadow was stunned by what had just happened as Iris laughed like a little psycho.

“God that felt so good!” She said practically spinning; she turned to Sasha, “I tell you that never get’s old!”

“Yeah, glad to see that your happy Iris.” Sasha said.

“Is Plu--I mean Iris always like this?” Shadow asked her.

“Yes she is.” She replied, “Don’t worry I had the same reaction you did when she first showed up.”

Rhys saw the other half of the Psycho that the skag ate earlier. He soon saw the case, “ **GUYS THE CASE!!** ” He said to them prying it from the Psycho’s corpse. “Alright good!” Sasha said, “Let’s get--”

Sasha was cut off when Zer0 had landed right back in the arena with them. He picked up his blade which was near Iris’s feet. “Thanks.” He said to her.

Iris shrugged her shoulders and said, “Whatever.”

Zer0 soon jumped to the side which confused the four. But soon Shadow had realized why he had jumped to the side.

“ **MOVE NOW!!** ” He shouted to them.

Bossanova’s sound waves hit the four sending each of them to the ground, all except Iris who flew towards the track with the case.

( ** _Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace_** )

 


	10. "B" is for Betrayal

**_(Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening)_ **

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora (Fiona & Plutia/Iris P.O.V)_**-

Fiona, Mion and Vaughn were both still in the race. They were speeding by avoiding the bandits that came along or tried to get on their vehicle. “We’re doing great Vaughn!” Mion shouted over to him, “Just keep driving!!”

“That’s what I’ve been doing for the past 10 minutes!!” Vaughn shouted to her.

Just than despite the sound of the engines they heard a loud booming sound coming from within the center of the track.

“What in the world?!” Fiona exclaimed. Just than they saw two things fly through the air. One was a case the other was what appeared to be a person.

“What the hell!?” Fiona couldn’t help but shout, “What is--”

Than they saw the case land on the back of a truck.

“Wait a minute, isn’t that the--” Mion was cut off when the person landed right on top of her making Fiona jump. Her eyes soon widened in shock when she realized who the person was.

“Oh man, that was one of the worst landings I ever had.” She said.

“What the fuck!?” Mion groaned trying to get up.

“Iris!?” Fiona exclaimed, “What are you doing out?!”

Iris looked up at Fiona and stood up, earning a groan from Mion as she got off. “Oh hey Fi.” Iris said brushing herself off and wiping some of the blood off her clothing and face, “Kinda of forgot you were here.”

“Why are you--”

“It doesn’t matter why I’m here. Besides, you’ve got more important things to worry about.”

Iris pointed over on the truck, and there it was. The case that they were looking for. Fiona removed her mask as did Mion when she sat up.

“We’ve got Bandits!” Mion said pointing over to a bike that had two Bandits. They jumped onto the car. Fiona prepared herself that is until little psycho unexpectedly on her back.

Mion grabbed ahold of the little psycho on her back, “ **GET OFF HER YA LITTLE BASTARD!!** ” Mion shouted.

Iris was about to help out her sister until the other Bandit charged at her with a buzz axe. She was about to swing her sword when she realized something.

“Oh shit I lost my sword.” She said. She tried to materialize another, but found that her markings weren’t glowing; most likely because she was running out of time *****.

( ** _*Iris can only stay out for a certain amount of time. Depending on the abilities she uses she’ll have a short amount of time. When she starts to run out of time, the abilities Iris has become unresponsive.)_**

“ **OH COME ON, NOT NOW!**!” Iris shouted.

The Bandit swung his weapon and she was quick to dodge it.

Vaughn saw what was happening on the back seat. He turned to the guy he was driving with.

“Hey get up there and help them!!” Vaughn said.

“ **PRETEND I’M A GOOD PERSON!!** ” He shouted.

“Why did I even bother?” He mumbled to himself.

Mion ended up getting kicked in the face breaking her nose. Iris managed to disarm the bandit with the buzz axe and then attacked him with it knocking him out of the car.

“ **HEY FI!!** ” Iris shouted, “ **YOU BETTER DUCK!!** ”

Fiona moved her head and Iris swung the buzz axe. It had hit the little psycho on her head causing him to cry out in pain.

Iris punched the little psycho and he fell off the car along with the buzz axe.

Mion turned and managed to stop the bleeding. She then shouted over to Vaughn, “ **HEY GOOD NEWS, WE FOUND THE CASE!!** ”  

“ **WHAT?!** ” Vaughn shouted since no one could hear anything through the roar of the engine.

“ **THE MONEY!** ” Fiona clarified, “ **IT’S ON THAT TRUCK!!** ”

The truck drove up right next to them and they saw the case which was labeled Hyperion in view.

 

“I can’t see a damn thing in this!!” Vaughn said to them.

They saw a Bandit swing his axe around. “ **KILL THEM!!** ” The Bandit shouted. One of the Bandits used a crane that was provided on the truck.

“What’s happening!?” Vaughn said to Mion and Fiona, “Is it something bad!?”

The crane swung towards them, and the three immediately ducked.

“Well that’s just great!!” Mion said sarcastically.

Iris shouted over to Vaughn, “ **HEY FOUR-EYES! CAN YOU GET US CLOSER TO THAT TRUCK!?** ”

“Yeah, I can!” Vaughn shouted back, “Whoever you are!”

Vaughn managed to put them closer to the truck, but the Bandit who was driving pulled out the shotgun and started firing at Vaughn.

“ **THEY NEVER STOP SHOOTING ON THIS PLANET DO THEY!?** ” Vaughn shouted.

“ **DON’T WORRY!** ” Mion shouted back, “ **YOU GET USED TO IT AFTER AWHILE!** ”

The three ducked at the gunfire. The Bandit managed to hit the Psycho driver and he fell off and toppled over getting run over by the other cars.

“ **OH GOD!!** ” Vaughn exclaimed.

“ **KILL THE LITTLE ONE!!** ” The Bandit shouted.

The Bandit jumped on the bike with his axe in hand. “ **VAUGHN!!** ” Mion exclaimed.

“I’ve got him!” Fiona said. She jumped on the railing seeing Vaughn dodging an axe; it got stuck on his bike. She then jumped and kicked the Bandit off of the bike making him topple on the road. Vaughn managed to climb back up.

“ **DID YOU GET THE CASE!?** ” Vaughn shouted.

“ **DOES IT LOOK LIKE I’VE GOT IT!?** ” Fiona shouted back at him.

Iris snarled and said, “ **HEY! SHE JUST SAVED YOUR LIFE! YOU CAN AT LEAST SAY THANKS YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE SKAG TURD!** ”

“Okay, okay! Thanks.” Vaughn said to Fiona, “Who is this girl anyway?!”

“I’ll tell you later!” Fiona shouted, “Right now we need to get that case!”

“I know I know!” Vaughn said mumbling to himself so no one else heard him, “If I don’t get that case Vasquez is gonna have my butt bronzed.”

They saw a Bandit hand the case to the driver then he went back.

“Vaughn!” Fiona yelled.

“Got it!” He said

He drove closer to the truck again. Fiona turned to sister, “Iris let’s move!”

“You got it Fi!” Iris said to her with a smile.

Fiona and Iris both prepared themselves to jump on the car, when they heard Mion shout, “ **VAUGHN TRUCK!** ”

Vaughn noticed this and he said to Mion, “ **JUMP ON QUICK!!** ”

Mion nodded and jumped on the back seat of Vaughn’s bike. Vaughn then detached the two bikes, “ **IT’S NOW OR NEVER!!** ” Mion shouted to Fiona. Vaughn drove the bike away from the truck. Fiona looked over to Iris and she shouted, “ **JUMP NOW!!** ”

Iris and her jumped onto the truck, as their car was totaled by the crashed. Iris managed to pull herself up and she saw that Fiona was struggling. She grabbed Fiona’s hand and pulled her up to safety.

They soon found themselves surrounded by Bandits that were already on the truck; They stood back to back.   
  


“My, my.” Iris said, “Your popularity is as good as ever.”

“Shut up and fight.” Fiona said.

They both charged at the bandits. Iris was able to defend herself from the Bandits; Fiona dodged an attack from a Bandit, but he had managed to pin her to the ground.

“ **JUST STOP AND LET ME BITE YOUR EARS OFF!!** ” The Bandit shouted while trying to choke her.  

Fiona attempted to fight it but she lost her hat in the process. She than noticed Mion and Vaughn on the bike. She that the axe was still on it. “ **HEY!** ” She shouted, “ **HAND ME THAT AXE!!** ”

“Do I look like the type of guy that uses an axe!?” Vaughn shouted.

“ **I’M USING IT!** ” Fiona yelled back.

Mion managed to the get axe off of the bike and she handed it to her, “ **THANKS!** ” She said. She swung an axe and kicked him off.

“We just helped you kill a guy.” Vaughn said, “No big deal there. I guess we’re even!”

“Guess so!” Fiona replied. Vaughn than drove ahead. Iris kicked the Bandit off the truck and noticed this, “Hey where are you two going!?” Iris shouted at them.

“We’re getting the case!!” Mion replied.

Vaughn drove to the other side of the truck. Mion looked behind, “Uhhh Vaughn!” She said.

Vaughn turned to look behind him, and screamed when he saw the bike gang of Bandits on their tail.

“ **FEEL MY DAGGER BONES!!** ” One of them shouted.

Mion pulled out her shotgun and started to fire with the elemental bullets, causing most of the Bandits to fall off. “ **GET THE CASE VAUGHN, I’VE GOT THEM!** ” Mion shouted to him. Vaughn got closer to the truck and jumped in, while Mion started to drive on the bike and fired upon the gang of Bandits.

Fiona and Iris saw three of the Bandits jump on the truck.

“Only you can sate my lust… for **MEAT!!** ” One of them had shouted.

“ **IRIS!** ” Fiona shouted to her, “ **THE CRANE!** ”

“ **GOT IT!** ” Iris shouted back.

Iris dove for the controls and got it to work. She spun the crane around knocking off the Bandits off; Fiona ducked to avoid the crane. One of the Bandits got ran over by the truck itself causing Vaughn (Who acquired a shotgun from the driver) pulled the trigger knocking him out of the drivers seat.

Vaughn quickly grabbed the wheel as the truck started to lose control. Fiona and Iris had both fallen over due to the fact that the truck temporary lost the driver. They both got up on their feet but completely forgot about the crane that was spinning. It had hit them in the back causing them both to fall over and grabbed onto the ledge.

Fiona managed to pull herself up.

“Hey! I could use some help over here!” Iris shouted over to her.

Fiona quickly went over to her and pulled her up. Just than they heard a Bandit shout, “ **I’M GONNA KILL YOU TILL YOU DIE FROM IT!!** ”

The Bandit charged at Fiona attempting to grab her throat. That was short lived when Iris punched the Bandit and kicked him; he hit the controls and the crane was just stuck in mid-air. Just when the Bandit was about to charge at Fiona again when Zer0 had suddenly jumped on the truck with them. They saw the vault hunter jump on top of the crane.

They saw Bossanova nearby on his platform. Zer0 jumped from the crane and kicked him right in the face causing him to fall off of his platform.

“ **BRACE YOURSELVES!!** ” Mion who was still on the bike shouted to them.

The crane grabbed onto the platform causing the truck to flip over The world just seemed to go slow now; The case had fallen off the driver's seat; luckily the caravan drove by. The window opened and Felix was able to catch the case; The window closed again.

Fiona jumped onto the caravan as did Iris as the truck landed on it’s back. Fiona entered the caravan with Iris followed behind. She shut the door behind after Iris entered.

“Damn…” Iris said catching her breath, “That was exciting…”

“Fiona, Plutia…” They heard Felix say to them.

They turned to Felix. “Still Iris old timer.” Iris said to him, “And nice save there, thought for a second it would be back to the drawing board.”

Fiona on the other hand saw that there was just something in Felix’s eye and she felt her gut that something was wrong. “Felix?” She said, “Is something the matter?”

Felix didn’t say anything, he just kept his eyes on the road. “Again, old-timer, thanks for the help as usual.” Iris said as she walked over to Felix in the driver's seat, “But if you don’t I think I’ll ta--”

That was when Iris found herself standing at gunpoint, which made Iris slightly jump. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the gun pointed at her. Fiona went up the steps to join Iris. She of course stood in front of her and ever so slowly she walked towards Felix.

“Ooohh for the love of…” Felix said putting his gun down. He drove the caravan so that it was making sharp carves, making Fiona and Iris lose their balance. and almost fall backward on the small steps. He turned to them, looking them in the eye as he held the gun to them again.

* * *

_(FIONA)_

_I guess old con men are pretty rare. Looking at him right there, I thought I understood him. Maybe for the first time in my whole life. It didn’t stop me from being pissed off._

* * *

 

“Old-timer?” Iris said questioningly, “What in the hell are you doing? Why are you pointing the gun at me and Fiona?”

“I’m sorry…” Felix said to her, “I hope one day you’ll understand… Perhaps you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me…”

“Felix--” Fiona was about to say when she the crashed truck in the road.

“ **FELIX!!** ” She exclaimed.

Iris exclaimed, “ **OH FU--!!** ” But was soon cut off when the caravan crashed. This had caused Fiona and Iris to fly backwards in the caravan, knocking them both out. After what seemed like an hour Fiona had finally came too. When she opened her eyes she saw that her little sister was next to her; Plutia was back to normal when she that familiar lavender hair color..

She heard the engine revving, and saw Felix struggling. “Come on! Come on!” She heard him say. She soon realized that they were at the side of the race track.

She saw the case in the middle of the floor. She tried to reach out for it but Felix picked up the case before she could.

“I’m…” He started to say, “I’m taking the money… All of it. I’m sorry Fiona. I’m really am. I told you never to trust anyone.”

He went towards the front window; and opened it.

“This is the only way to make you understand.” He said to her, “One last thing for you to learn.”

“Felix!” Fiona shouted, “Don’t do this, we’re like family!”

“We are family.” He said, “That will never change.”

He went ahead to crawl out of the window, “Take care of your sisters. Keep them out of trouble.”

Fiona got up and went towards Felix as he climbed out of the window. She managed to get herself at the driver's seat and she saw his foot on the tire of the caravan. “Goodbye Fiona.” He said.

Fiona’s eyes widened in realization when she had just remembered something about the case. The bomb!

She had tried to shout to him but he pushed the caravan and it had hit the wall of the track. “Tell Hyperion they can track their fancy case all they want!” Felix said unlocking it, “But I’m taking the money.”

He managed to get the case open.

“ **FELIX NO! IT’S BOOBY TRAPPED!!** ” Fiona shouted.

The case started to beep and Felix’s eyes had widened.

He threw the case away and it had blown up into thousands of pieces.

**  
( _Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace_ )**


	11. Guess Who's Back?

( ** _Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening_** )

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora (Rhys & Shadow’s P.O.V)_**-

“ ** _wAKey, wAKey sHAdY. yOuR nOT dEaD yEt, So qUiT sLeEPiNg._** ”

Shadow’s eyes shot open when he heard the distorted voice echo through his head again. He sat up quickly, but regretted doing so when he felt dizzy. “Ow…” Shadow couldn’t help but groan, “That was a bad idea.” Soon enough he heard a familiar voice call out to him. It was his best friend Mion.

“ **SHADES!!** ” She shouted as she ran over to him.

She moved some of the debris of crates that was on him and helped him to stand up, “ **RHYS! I FOUND HIM! HIS OVER HERE!** ” Mion shouted. Shadow had soon saw Rhys in view. “Hey!” Rhys said as he waved over to him; he got over to where they were, “Good to see your not dead!”

“I could say the same thing to you.” Shadow said as he rubbed his head, “What happened with the case?”

“It flew on the track.” Rhys explained, “Mion said the last time she saw it, it was with that guy Felix.”

“Felix huh?” Shadow said, “That’s good I guess.”

“At least now we got the ten million dollars.” Mion said with a smile, “It can only get better from here.”

Mion spoke to soon when they heard an explosion nearby. This had caused them all to jump. “I spoke too soon didn’t I?” Mion said.

“Was that what I think it is?” Shadow had asked.

Rhys’s eyes widened, “ **AH! NO! NO! NO!** ” They saw that the money from the case was all burnt and just raining from the sky.

“Oh shit…” Shadow said.

“That’s not good…” Mion said.

“Okay…” Rhys said, “This is officially the worst day ever…”

They soon heard someone screaming; they looked up and saw that it was Bossanova. He fell on his back hard, and then they saw Zer0 land on a crate and jumped onto the floor. He stabbed Bossanova right on the woofer.

“ **OW!! MY WOOFER!!** ” Bossanova cried out.

An emoji appeared on Zer0’s mask which was a smile. Bossnova’s voice started how you say remix with his normal voice. He started to press a couple of buttons that was on his belt.

He then started to say to Zer0, “I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really... **HATE YOU!** ” The platform moved just above him and Zer0. And with a press of a button, it dropped on top of the both of them.

The three covered their eyes from the sand that flew when the platform landed hard on the ground.

“ **ZER0!!** ” Shadow, Rhys & Mion couldn’t help but shout. The three of them saw Zer0 when the dust started to clear they saw that a metal beam was sticking out of Zer0’s stomach which made their jaws drop. Surprisingly enough, there was no blood. Zer0 turned over to them.   

“How are you not dead!?” Rhys couldn’t help but shout over to him.

Zer0 didn’t answer and they soon realized why there was no blood at all. The Zer0 that had a metal beam sticking out of his stomach was nothing more than a hologram when had casually walked out and disappeared. The real Zer0 stood up from the floor and picked up his sword.

He then contacted someone on an ECHO device. He had said, “Bossanova’s dead. / I don’t think he was lying. / Gortys is not here.”

They heard what appeared to be a woman on the other side. “ _Don’t sweat it babe. That’s one less Bandit Lord we have to worry about._ ” She said, “ _That’s one less Bandit Lord we have to worry about. There’s plenty of time for sweating later, once you’ve come back to me for your reward._ ”

Zer0 turned over to them; Looking at Shadow specifically.

Shadow silently nodded to him as did Zer0 as their way to of saying goodbye to one another. Zer0 turned to walk away, talking with the woman on the other side of the line as he did.

“My quest is not done.” Zer0 said.

The woman had replied, “ _My reward is gonna be long, hard, and powerful._ ”

“Gortys remains out of reach.” He said.

“ _It’s a rocket launcher._ ”

“Yes… Innuendo.”

Zer0 couldn’t help but shake his head as he walked away. “Always nice to see that guy.” Mion said to Shadow.

“Yep, I’ll admit to that.” Shadow replied.

Vaughn had soon met up with them as did Sasha, Fiona and Plutia. All Plutia was doing was just hugging her doll tightly. Mion went over to her, “Hey there Plutie! I was wondering you ran off too. What happened to your braid?”

Shadow sighed and shook his head knowing very well what had happened with Plutia. “I’m glad to see that you're not hurt--” He was cut off when he saw that she was crying. Her eyes were welled up with tears and her cheeks were puffy.

He kneeled down to her, “Hey what’s wrong?”

Plutia didn’t say nothing. Tears continued to fall, leaving a wet spot on her doll's head.

“Plutia? Are you okay?” Mion asked her.

Sasha looked around, “Where’s Felix? I thought that Mion said he had the case.”

“Well…” Fiona started to say as she rubbed the back of her neck.

“Fe… Felix…” Plutia choked, “He… He…”

Fiona patted her on the head, “Let me explain it to them Plutie.”

Plutia nodded her head and hugged her doll even tighter than before. Fiona had then explained what had happened. All of them were shocked, but Sasha on the other hand she was pissed.

She kicked a nearby crate and shouted, “ **GOD DAMN IT!!** ” She exclaimed, “ **I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT BASTARD!!** ”

“Well that explains what that explosion was.” Shadow said.

Mion had added, “I can’t believe he would actually try and take the money for himself.”

Fiona turned to Sasha, “Listen… About what happened with Felix--”

Sasha had cut her off, “Stop! Okay!” She said with anger in her voice, “I don’t want to talk about it right now.” Sasha walked over to a corpse of a bandit.

“So as of right now.” Fiona said, “We have no money, no Vault Key… Nothing.”

Mion had then followed Sasha’s lead. She went over to a corpse next to the corpse Sasha was searching.

“Umm… What are you doing?” Vaughn asked Mion fixing his glasses. Mion had replied, “Checking the bodies. They might have something valuable on them, or at least a hell of a lot cash.”

“Why are you doing that exactly?” Rhys couldn’t help but ask her.

“With ten million dollars gone out the window, we’ve gotta get the money another way.” She replied.

“She’s got the right idea.” Sasha said.

Vaughn had then pointed out, “It’s not like there’s going to be ten million dollars lying around--”

“You have better ideas?” Sasha said to Vaughn with a glare.

Fiona had found her hat in the middle of the arena. She picked it up and got some of the sand on her hat. She had then said to Vaughn and Rhys, “You two came here to Pandora, now you get to live like we do.” She placed her hat upon her head and proceeded to check the bodies. Soon enough Rhys and Vaughn went looking as well.

Shadow was about to go help, but stopped when he turned to Plutia. She was sitting in a fetal position still in tears by what had just happened. He couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the poor girl. Just by the way she was acting he knew she had taken it hard; harder than Fiona & Sasha probably. She just kept crying and crying; all while occasionally squeezing her doll.

He went over to her and sat by her side; she didn’t even notice that he was there. She had only registered that he was next to her when he placed his hand on her head.

He had finally said to her, “I’m sorry about your friend Felix.”

“I--I…” Plutia choked, “I don’t understand… Why would Felix do that to us…? I thought, we’re his family… So why…?”

“Sometimes the people you love or care about… Aren’t at all who they appear to be.” Shadow said, with a bit of hesitation in his voice.

“But why…?” Plutia said turning to him with her bloodshot eyes, “Why would he do it? I don’t understand why…”

“Who knows what his reason is.” He said to her, “It might be good or bad. Maybe, it’s best for you and your sisters if you don’t know his reason.”

“How… How would you know?”

“Because I was in the same situation you were in when I was as old as you. Someone… I cared about was killed by a person whom I treated like family. What his reason was, I’m not sure to even this day.”

            

“You don’t know?”

“No unfortunately. I’m hoping I can find him, and find the answers to why he did what he did.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“All I’m trying to do is make a point. They’re going to be a lot of people that will end up throwing away your trust. It can be anyone really, even those you love. Sometimes you’ll know the reason, and sometimes you won’t. Someday, you'll get your answers, and hopefully you’ll get them soon. Probably sooner than me.”

Plutia wiped away her tears and let out a small smile, “Thanks…” She said, “That makes me feel a little better.”

“No problem.” Shadow said, “I’m glad I could help. What do you say we go and help the others find anything valuable?”

Plutia nodded her head; She placed her doll back on her belt and they both got up and went to go search the bodies. They managed to find a couple of things, mostly weapons and upgrades for some of them.

Vaughn had eventually said, “This junk can’t be worth much.”

“That pistol over there is worth at least a hundred bucks.” Sasha replied.

“Ah good.” Rhys said as he stood on Bossanova’s stand, “We just need a hundred thousand more and all set.”

“Hey, at least it’s a start on something.” Shadow said to him, “Just wait and see. Before you know we’ll have the ten million dollars to split with the each of us.”

Before Rhys could say anything more they suddenly heard the sound of rockets. Each of them turned their heads to try and find the source of the sound. “Does anyone else hear that?” Vaughn asked them.

The ground shook when something landed in the middle of the arena. The floor that was under Bossanova’s stand started to crumble.

It had turned out that it was Loader Bot. “Righteous father!” Loader Bot said to Rhys, “I have found you!”

The floor under the stand finally gave out and Rhys let out a scream. “ **RHYS!!** ” Shadow, Vaughn & Mion shouted.

“Try to roll with the fall!” Loader Bot had said.

The group ran towards the open hole where Rhys fell. They saw him in the middle of the floor where he had landed. “Oh my god!” Plutia exclaimed, “Is he dead?!”

Shadow immediately jumped down the open sword using his chain attached to his sword to ease himself down. After he had gotten it back, he sheathed his sword and ran towards Rhys. “Hey Rhys!” Shadow said as he shook him, “Rhys, I know your alive, wake up!”

He heard Rhys let out a groan and opened his eyes. He then helped him to stand up. “Ow…” Rhys said, “Everything hurts…”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get over it.” Shadow said to him.

“Hey Shades!” Mion shouted, “You guys okay down there!?”

“Yeah, we’re fine!” Shadow shouted back, “Rhys is okay too!”

Rhys had then said, “Yup I am totally fine! I meant to do that!”  

“Well good.” Sasha said, “Because, it looks like there’s a safe way down to help you two. So figure out a way out of there.”

Rhys and Shadow both nodded their heads and they started to look around. They both saw that they were surrounded by what appeared to be Atlas. There was computers and such in the room. They saw a total of three buttons; Two of them on the counter and the third button was in the middle.

“What’s down there?” Vaughn had said to them, “I mean what do you see?”

“There’s a bunch of Atlas tech down here.” Shadow said.

“What kind of tech?” He asked. 

Rhys had then added, “Well it’s mostly off prototypes. Some tech and weapons--”

“ **WHERE!?** ” Both Mion and Sasha said in unison.

They both jumped down and went down the stairs. “Too dangerous huh?” Rhys couldn’t help but say to her. They towards one of the buttons. Sasha pressed it and it was revealed to be a weapon. Mion couldn’t help but let out a squeal.

“ **OH MY GOD!** ” Mion exclaimed turning to Sasha, “Do you realize what this is!?”

“No way!” Sasha said, “No fucking way! This is…This is…!”

“ **THE ATLAS SILVER!!** ” Mion and Sasha both exclaimed turning to each other.

“Ummm, the Atlas Silver?” Shadow said a bit confused.

Mion turned to him, “Shades, how can you not know it!? You spent most of your life on Pandora, and you don’t know what the Atlas Silver is?!”

“All I see is a gun.” He said to her.

Sasha than said picking up the gun from it’s holster, “This is one of the rarest SMGs on Pandora! These things are a legendary, said to be a rumor! These weapons were never released!”

“I still see a simple gun.” Shadow said.

Vaughn, Fiona, and Plutia had soon joined them. Vaughn went over to the second button and pressed it. It had revealed to be a watch which had gotten Vaughn excited. 

“No… Way… ” Vaughn said taking the watch from its holster; he exclaimed, “ **IT’S AN RETRO ATLASIO! I THOUGHT THESE THINGS WERE JUST A RUMOR!** ”

He placed it on his wrist and walked over to Rhys, “Just check this out! It tells time, and it’s a caculator! Just give me a math problem!”

“Is it worth a lot of money?” Fiona asked him.

Vaughn had replied, “Sort of yeah. I mean yeah it’s not ten million dollars worth, but ah man to the right people… Atlas tech in mint condition like this is worth a hell of a lot to collectors! Some Hyperion execs buy it just to put it on their shelves and gloat! And unreleased prototypes at that. I mean, who knows what this is worth!”

Soon enough, Rhys, Fiona, Shadow & Plutia noticed the button within the middle of the room. They walked over to it. “Would you care to do the honors?” Rhys asked Fiona and Plutia.

“Well, this is the only left.” Fiona said, “It would seem right for all four us to press it.”

“That sounds fair to me!” Plutia said with a smile.

“Whatever.” Shadow said.

The four of them reached for the button and pressed it. The line just under the button had started to light up, leading to the third and final hidden item. It surrounded the Atlas logo and it had opened up revealing two strange items. One was what appeared to be a circle that was incomplete the other one being of a smaller piece that had fit the missing part of the circle. Both of them were core’s.

A computerized voice had said, “ _RESET IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED._ ”

“What is it?” Plutia couldn’t help but ask, tilting her head.

“Don’t know but whatever it is…” Rhys said.

“It looks incredibly valuable.” Fiona had finished for him before saying, “And there’s two of them so I don’t have to stab you.”

“That’s a bonus.” Rhys said, “I call the bigger half.”

Just as said, Rhys took the bigger half while Fiona took the other. They removed it from where it was place. Plutia couldn’t help but look at it in awe. “Whoa… I don’t know what it is, but it looks kinda of cool.”

Fiona then turned to Sasha, “Alright we got what we came for, now let’s--”

All of a sudden the two halves had attached to one another with the help of a magnet, completing the circle surprising the small group. It had started to spin and they couldn’t help but stare.

“Hey Vaughn, can you find us a crowbar?” Rhys asked him, “Maybe we can--”

The core had suddenly projected a hologram. Appearing were the initials GP. Soon enough it had projected the whole planet of Pandora. A trail had appeared going around Pandora to a point. The trail had appeared to lead a symbol to a vault.

“No way…” Mion had said with wide eyes.

“Is that… A map?” Fiona had asked.

Before Shadow could say something to her, he heard a familiar voice.

“ ** _sO... sHe’S THe bRaInS oF tHe oUTfIt?_** ” The voice joked. Shadow started to look around and he saw that he wasn’t the only one that heard it; Rhys heard it as well. They both started to look around to try and find out where it came from.

The voice continued to speak.

“ ** _iS tHAt A mAp?_** ” The voice said, “ ** _i-- i-- i doN’T kNoW, iT’s sO cONfuSIng!_** ”

Just than, Shadow saw what appeared to be a silhouette of a person; a man specifically.  It had appeared to be a hologram of a person of somek kind but it was all blurry. In a matter of seconds, the holographic image started to become clear as well as the voice.

“ ** _ThIS LaDIes & GeNTlemAN Is tHE GoRtys ProJect aNd iT’s gOnnA lEaD us_**… To a Vault.”

The holographic image was now all cleared up. Shadow couldn’t help but let out a surprised gasp and his eyes went as wide as dinner plates when he saw the person behind Rhys and Fiona and had his hands on each of their shoulders.

“N--no…” Shadow stammered, “It ca--can’t be…”

Plutia noticed this, “What is it? Is there something the matter?”

Rhys soon noticed the look on Shadow’s face as well. He was about to ask when he heard a voice all too familiar to him say with his voice not sounding like a demon from hell, “And then I’ll probably kill you.”

Rhys turned and he couldn’t help but let out a small scream.

Both Shadow and Rhys couldn’t believe who they saw. It was him… The man that once ruled Pandora. The man who was killed by Vault Hunters…

The man that stood before them… Was Handsome Jack.

( ** _Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace_** )


	12. Look Me In The Eye

( ** _Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1_** )

 

- ** _Present_** -

 

The sun had started to rise over the horizon of Pandora. Rak’s had begun to take there early morning flight. Fiona and Rhys both slept back to back with one another, while Plutia’s head, rested on Shadow’s shoulder as they slept.

 

Their kidnapper, the Stranger had soon disturbed them from their slumber when he fired his gun in the air. This had caused Fiona and Rhys to jump while Shadow and Plutia on the other hand, opened their eyes normally as if they were getting up from bed.

 

“ **GAH I’M UP! I’M UP!!** ” Rhys exclaimed as his head darted around as did Fiona.

 

Plutia let out a yawn as did Shadow. She sat herself up, “Is it breakfast time already?”

 

Shadow tried to move his arms to rub his eyes but then remembered why he couldn’t, “Oh that’s right, we’re tied up.” He said to so casually.

 

“Hey! Seriously, can you use your words?” Fiona said, “You're just wasting your bullets with that thing.”

 

The Stranger was silent for a moment. “Yeah… Okay.” He said, putting his gun away.

 

Shadow than noticed the position that Rhys and Fiona were in, “Whoa.” Shadow said with a smirk, “And you two said you weren’t a couple.”

 

The two were confused at first until they realized what he meant. They immediately jumped away from each other as far as they could. Fiona had soon realized that there was a wet spot on her shoulder. “Aw! Come on!” Fiona said angrily turning to Rhys, “You drooled on me!”

 

“Huh?” Rhys said. He turned to her and saw the spot where he drooled. “Oh yeah.” He said with a smirk, “Whoa, that’s a lot. You know I feel a little dehydrated.” This had caused Fiona to spit on his face.

 

“ **GAH!** ” Rhys exclaimed when her spit landed on his face, “ **WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?** ”

 

Fiona smiled in triumph. “There.” She said, “Now we’re even.”

 

“You are a monster.” Rhys couldn’t help but say with a glare.

 

“Stop!” The Stranger had said.

 

“Yeah, seriously.” Shadow said to them, “I know you two have had your differences but this is getting annoying.”

 

"It's really giving me a headache." Plutia had added

 

The Stranger let out a sigh and then said to the four of them, “I’m gonna let you out of those restraints. Don’t make me regret it… Cause’ **_YOU’LL_** regret it much more.”

 

Everyone was eager to nod their heads as if to say, “We won’t run, we promise”. He then went ahead and undid the restraints. He first untied Shadow and Plutia; He gave back Plutia’s doll which she was thankful for as she hugged it tightly. He then went ahead to untie Fiona and Rhys.

 

Fiona stood up and stretched her limbs as did Rhys. “We gotta long way to go.” The Stranger told them, “We should move before the suns up.”

 

“Can I ask where we’re going exactly?” Shadow asked him.

 

The Stranger turned and simply stated, “ ** _NO._** ”

 

“Just as I thought.” Shadow said with a sweat drop.

 

Fiona had then asked the Stranger, “At the very least can I hit him once? Just to get it out of my system?”  

 

Rhys turned to Fiona, “You gotta work on your anger management. All this animosity is not good for--”

 

“Just one.” The Stranger said cutting him off. Rhys did a double take, and before he could protest, Fiona’s fist went right across his cheek causing him to lose his balance and fall over. Shadow and Plutia couldn’t help but jump slightly.

 

“Big sister!” Plutia said, “That wasn’t very nice!”

 

“What?” Fiona said to her innocently, “I needed to get it out of my system.”

 

“ **OW!** ” Rhys couldn’t help but shout, “ **SON-OF-A-TAINT THAT HURT!** ”

 

The Stranger than motioned them to walk to which they did. They walked ahead while the Stranger walked from behind. “So…” The Stranger said, “Where were we?”

 

Fiona and Plutia both looked at each other. Plutia than started by saying, “So anyway, after we found the map to the Gortys Project…”

 

* * *

 

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; Atlas Secret Lab (Fiona & Plutia’s POV)_**-

 

The group couldn’t help but stare in awe at the map before them. There was nothing but silence among the group. Plutia turned to Shadow, but saw the look on his face.

 

“N--no…” She heard him say, “It ca--can’t be…”

 

“What is it?” Plutia asked, “Is there something the matter?”

 

Shadow didn’t seem to hear her voice which made Plutia a little worried. It wasn’t long before they heard Rhys let out a scream which made Fiona jump.

 

“What is it?” Fiona asked him.

 

Rhys had replied, but stammered, “I--uh--...” He turned away from the group and walked over to where Shadow, Mion and Plutia were. Shadow’s eyes had appeared to follow where Rhys had walked.

 

“Rhys, you're acting weird.” Fiona stated, “Weirder than usual.”

 

“Rhys is fine!” Vaughn reassured her, “He’s just… Excited!”

 

Mion had finally noticed the look on Shadow’s face. “Shades?” Mion said getting his attention, “What’s wrong? Is something the matter?” Shadow turned to Mion, but took a moment to turn back to Rhys. “Wha…?” He said before asking Mion, “You mean you don’t see him?”

 

Mion and Plutia both tilted their heads when they heard him say that. Mion turned to where Rhys was looking. “See who?” Mion asked him, “What are you talking about?”

 

Plutia had turned to where Shadow was looking but didn’t see anyone. She turned back to the teen, “Are you sure you're okay?” Plutia asked with concern, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

 

Shadow turned back to Rhys; he had replied to Plutia without turning to her, “You… Could say that.” He said.  

 

Soon enough Sasha had asked Vaughn, “You sure he’s okay?”

 

“Yeah, he’s fine!” He once again reassured, “He just needs some fresh air!”

 

Rhys had then suddenly sprinted up the stairs.

 

“So, upstairs… Where there’s more air…” Vaughn said losing his trail of thought.

 

“I…” Shadow said, looking up the stairs where Rhys just went. He had suddenly exclaimed, “I need to go!” And thus he sprinted away from the group.

 

“Shades, wait!” Mion shouted, but before anyone knew it, he was already up the stairs.

 

“What’s the matter with him?” Fiona asked her.

 

“I… Don’t know.” Mion told her, “I’ve known him for so long, but he’s never acted like that before.” There was silence among the group. Vaughn immediately broke it when he said, “So… Hey! What’s up with that map?”

 

The group looked up at the map, wondering what it was about. “That symbol.” Mion had pointed out, “That’s the symbol for a Vault. Why would this kind of map be here though?”

 

Sasha shouted towards the map, “Computer! Enhance!”

 

“Enhance!” Fiona had shouted as well.

 

They continued to shout the same word over and over again but it was all in vain. “Umm…” Plutia said, “I don’t think it’s working.”

 

Mion and Vaughn couldn’t help but shake their heads. “Seriously.” Mion said stopping them, “That’s not gonna work.”

 

“She’s right.” Vaughn said to the two, “Where you guys from? You don’t just yell ‘Enhance!’ at the screen.”

 

Sasha went over to the machine, “Maybe I can bring this up on a legend on this thing.” She reached out to get it, but the minute the tips of her fingers touched the machine, it had suddenly shocked her.

 

“ **GAH!** ” She cried out. The core fell to the ground and broke in two letting the map disappear.

 

“Holy shi--Are you okay?!” Mion said going over to Sasha.

 

She shook her hand, “Yeah, I’m okay.” She replied.

 

“Did you break it?” Vaughn asked her. He kneeled down to pick up the smaller core that Fiona had earlier, but it ended up shocking him too. “ **URGH!!** ” He cried out. He quickly shook his hand to get rid of the pain, “Damn it. I don’t think we can pick it up.”

 

“Maybe…” Mion said thinking aloud she then turned to Fiona, “Try picking up the smaller core. Maybe it’ll work for you.”

 

“You think?” Fiona couldn’t help but ask her.

 

“Just try it, okay?” Mion said to her.

 

Fiona nodded her head. She went over to the smaller core and picked it up; Surprisingly enough, she didn’t get shocked. “Huh?” Plutia said tilted her head, “It didn’t shock you?”

 

“I…” Fiona said at a loss for words, “I don’t understand.”

 

“I’ve seen this kind of thing before. Back when I was with the Black Wind.” Mion said.

 

“You have?” She asked her.

 

Mion nodded her head, “When Shadow and I were on the job before the Black Wind went… Missing. We found this small machine that did belong to Atlas at one point. When he touched it, the machine imprinted on him and shocked the others that did touch it. Since you and Rhys were the only ones that picked it up, it'll shock everyone else but you and him, it must’ve imprinted on you and him.”

 

“Vintage Atlas.” Vaughn said fixing his glasses, “Incredible.”

 

Sasha’s eyes widened in realization when she had just realized something, “Wait…” She said, “You worked with the Black Wind?”

 

Mion turned to her and said, “Yeah, I’ll... Tell you about it later.”

 

Just than, the group heard a computerized voice, “ _RETINAL SCANNER ONLINE._ ” It said, “ _SECURITY PROTOCOL ENGAGED. RETINAL SCAN REQUIRED. PLEASE STEP FORWARD AND IDENTIFY YOURSELF._ ”

 

“Is that normal for a computer?” Plutia asked Vaughn.

 

“I don’t think so…” He replied to her.

 

“I don’t know…” Sasha said, “Maybe we should get out of here while we should get out of here while we still have the chance.”

 

“Hold on, we can’t leave just yet!” Mion said to Sasha, “I don’t if you’ve noticed it, but that symbol just now on the map, was the symbol of a Vault. People don’t just turn away from something like that, Vault Hunters or not.”

 

“She’s right.” Fiona said to her, “This map could lead us to a vault. So we’re not leaving until we know exactly where it’s telling us to go.”

 

“She does have a point big sis.” Plutia said to her, “Aren’t you even a little curious to where this is going to lead?”

 

Sasha thought about it for minute; She let out a sigh, “Alright, a quick peek never hurt anybody.”

 

Plutia let out a bright warm smile. “Good.” Fiona said, “Now that’s out of the way let’s take a look at the computer.”

 

They went over towards the computer. Fiona went forward towards the scanner; the retinal scan had started up and scanned her eye. The computer voice had said, “ _RETINAL SCAN FAILED. EMPLOYEE NOT RECOGNIZED. ALERTING GENERAL POLLUX._ ”

 

“General Pollux?” Plutia said tilting her head, “Who’s that?”

 

“Oh crap that must be an Atlas employee.” Vaughn said, “That’s probably not--”

 

He was soon cut off when they heard a beeping sound. They all looked around the room. “Um… What’s that sound?” Sasha couldn’t help but ask.

 

“It sounds like a pager…” Mion had replied, “But where is it coming from?”

 

“Let’s see if we can find it.” Fiona said. The small group spread out and looked around the room. Plutia had soon walked passed a cabinet of some kind. She backed up and looked towards it. She placed her ear against and heard that the beeping sound was loud.

 

“Hey, guys!” Plutia had called over, “I found the sound! It’s coming from here!”

 

They went over to where Plutia was and they heard the sounds of the beeping were indeed louder than before.

 

Fiona went ahead and pressed the big yellow button right on the cabinet. It opened swiftly, and within the strange cabinet there revealed to be a person. Everyone couldn’t help but let out a scream and jumped away from it. “ **YEAH OKAY!** ” Vaughn couldn’t help but exclaim, “ **THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA SEE!** ”

 

Sasha picked up the pager that was beside the man. It had turned out the man in the cabinet was the one called General Pollux. She shut off the pager, “Well, now all we have to do is get his eye to the retinal scanner.” She said.

 

“How are we going to do that?” Plutia couldn’t help but ask.

 

Mion had suggested, “We can maybe scoot him over to the computer?”

 

“My thoughts exactly.” Fiona said. Sasha and Fiona both attempted to get Pollux out of the cabinet but ultimately couldn’t since his legs were stuck. Fiona and Sasha were forced to put him down. “Well that’s not gonna work.” Sasha had said.

 

“From the looks of it, he’s wedged in there pretty tight.” Fiona said taking a closer look.

 

“Now what?” Plutia said, tilting her head.

 

Mion thought about for a second and she had said, “Okay, I’ve gotta one of the strangest ideas.”

 

Everyone gave her a confused look. Vaughn couldn’t help but ask, “What kind of strange idea?”

 

“Well, it is a retinal scanner, so we just need his eye.” Mion said, “The only thing we need to do, sadly that’s the hard part, is to get his eyeball out.”

 

“Scoop out his eyeball!?” Vaughn shouted, “Are you insane!?”

 

“Trust me Vaughn it’s the only way.” Mion said.

 

“She actually does make a good point.” Sasha said

 

Fiona gave an unsure look but she did admit in her head, Mion did make a good point. If they were ever going to find out what was in that computer, they need his eye. There was just one problem.

 

Fiona had asked, “How am I supposed to get his eye out? With my bare hands?”

 

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to use them.” Mion said. She walked over to a table that had an empty lunch tray. She picked up one of the utensils which was--

 

“Oh hey, it’s a spoon AND a fork!” Vaughn said, “Ha! How about that?”

 

Mion then handed it to Fiona, “This should make things easier for you. I’d do it myself, but I think this requires more, steadier hands.”

 

“Right, gotcha.” Fiona said taking the spork from her. Vaughn didn’t seem to take in what she meant only until he looked over at Pollux’s body, “Wait a minute, that’s not--” He said.

 

“Yup.” Fiona said to Vaughn, “That eyes gonna have to come out one way or another.”

 

Fiona walked over to Pollux and kneeled down to get a better look. “Okay… This is… Okay…” Fiona said. Right before she was about to do it, she felt someone looking over her shoulder. She turned and saw it was Plutia. “Hey Plutie.” Fiona said, “Trust me when I say you might want to look away for this part.”

 

“Oh right, sorry.” Plutia said. She backed up and turned away so that her back was now towards the small group.

 

She carefully moved Pollux’s head and aimed the spork to his left eye. As carefully as she could she placed it above his eye and--

 

“ **AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!** ” They heard Rhys scream.

 

Fiona jumped at the sound of Rhys’s voice and accidently shoved the spork into Pollux’s right eye turning it into soup; the blood got onto Fiona’s face.

 

Everyone’s jaw just dropped (Except for Plutia since her back was turned) when they saw the eyeball had basically explode.

 

Plutia turned around slightly, “Did you get it?” She asked breaking the silence.

 

“ **WHY DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?!** ” Fiona had shouted angrily.

 

“I’m gonna take that as a no.” The young siren said.

 

“Oh God!” Mion said holding her mouth, “I think I’m gonna be sick!”

 

“Your not the only one!” Vaughn said holding his mouth and stomach

 

“Aw… Man… ” Sasha had said, “You split the eye right in half… All the thing is-”

 

“ **WHY ARE YOU DESCRIBING IT TO ME!?** ” Fiona shouted cutting her off, “ **I KNOW! I DID IT!** ”

 

“Right, sorry.” She said.

 

Mion managed to stop herself from throwing up as she said, “Well, bad news. You only get one more shot, so try and not to split the eye in half.”  

 

“You think I don’t know that?” Fiona said.

 

Fiona turned back to Pollux, she took a deep breath, “Here we go.”

 

As carefully as she could, she placed the spork in his eye. She then turned the spork, trying to avoid damaging the eye.

 

“Right, so far so good.” Sasha said.

 

“Stop talking to me.” She said to her.

 

She continued to turn the spork feeling that the eye was getting loose.

 

“I’m gonna be honest right now…” Mion said, “I’m don’t know if that’s looking better or worse.”

 

“Trust me.” Vaughn said, “It looks worse.”

 

“If your planning on puking than do it on the floor.” Sasha said.

 

All Fiona did was give Sasha a look as if to say, “What did I just tell you?”

 

“Hey, this is me helping.” Sasha simply stated.

 

She felt that the eye was lose. She scooped it in and started to dig out the eye. “You almost got it!” Sasha said, “Just cut the thing… Holding the thing…”

 

Fiona dug it in as hard as she could. Just as she cut what was attached to the eye, her hand slipped letting the eye fly through the air.

 

“ **OH CRAP!!** ” Mion shouted as the eye flew in the air, “ **SOMEBODY CATCH IT!!** ” Before it could land in front of Vaughn the eye had suddenly stopped in midair. They turned to see Plutia, with her left arm out and her markings glowing a familiar blue color.

 

Vaughn sighed with relief, “Thank you…”

 

“Your welcome.” Plutia said to him with a smile. She made the eye float towards Fiona, “Here you go big sister.”

 

“Thanks Plutie.” Fiona said. She took the eye from where it was floating and Plutia’s marks had stopped glowing, “Let’s get this over to the scanner.”

 

They went towards the computer. Before Plutia could follow however she heard what appeared to be a voice. It was of a man’s but it didn’t belong to Rhys or Shadow. In fact, she didn’t recognize the voice at all.

 

“Impossible……Die…...Too stupid….” The voice had said.

 

“Huh?” Plutia said to herself looking around the room, “That voice…? Where did it…”

 

Just than she saw her marks started to glow a very faint purple color. A voice had then echoed through her head.

 

“ ** _Looks like our Hyperion pals made a new friend._** ”

 

Plutia of course recognized who the voice was in her head. “Iris *****?” She whispered.  

 

( ** _*Plutia is aware that she has a different personality and is able to talk to her through her head. The only two differences is when Plutia has her own head, Iris is able to see, hear, smell what Plutia does. When Iris is in control, she can’t remember anything she does._** )

 

“ ** _Hello again Plutia._** ” Iris said in her head, “ ** _Nice to see your doing well after that whole Felix thing._** ”

 

Plutia ignored what Iris had said and asked with her mind, “You mean… You know what’s wrong with Shadow and Rhys?”

 

“Of course I do.” Iris replied, “I know you can hear his voice too you idiot.”

 

“But how?”

 

“ ** _It’s one of my-- or should I say our abilities as a siren. Technopathy*. Since they both have an ECHOEye so I can see why it would work._** ”

 

( ** _*From what I understand from the Wikipedia page, Technopathy is what allows physical interactions with machines. I thought it would make sense, apologies if it’s not really accurate. And before you ask Plutia’s Technopathy is a bit unstable so she wouldn’t be able to hack into a computer._** )

 

Plutia tilted her head in confusion. “So what does that mean exactly?”

 

She heard Iris letting out a sigh, “ ** _It means you’ll be able to see who they’ve got stuck in those little head of theirs. So head on up and check it out._** ”

 

Plutia nodded to herself and did what she was told. She went towards the stairs and head on up as quietly as she could. Thankfully the eye that Fiona had worked with the scanner as the computer opened up to what appeared to be a message.

 

“ _MESSAGE ONE._ ” The Computer said, “ _ATHENA. GORTYS FACILITY. OLD HAVEN._ ”

 

The message had started and as the computer said, it was indeed from Athena. “ _Hello Pollux._ ” She said in the message, “ _Too bad I missed you at Old Haven. As you’ve no doubt surmised the Gortys project has been terminated. And now that you have no soldiers under your command. I regret to inform you that you’ve been relieved from your duties. I’ll come by soon to “ease” your transition into retirement._ ”

 

Thus Athena’s message came to end. Mion couldn’t help but say aloud, “Man she knows how to send a message.”

 

No one had seemed to acknowledge what Mion had said as Vaughn asked, “Ummm… What’s Old Haven?”

 

“It’s an Atlas old mining town.” Sasha replied, “It’s been abandoned for years.”

 

“Which makes it a perfect place to hide a Gortys Project.” Fiona said, “Whatever that is…”

 

Just than another message started to play. The computer voice had said, “ _MESSAGE TWO. GENERAL POLLUX. MEMORANDUM._ ”

 

Up on the screen, there he was, General Pollux. He turned to the camera, but what they heard next, it had put them into shock. He had said within the message, “ _If you’re watching this, then I’m already in suspended animation. You must understand, Athena was trying to kill me, and what I posses is far too powerful to end up in the arsenal of a ruthless mercenary. If Athena is no longer a threat… Please activate the revival protocol in my statis dock. My life, and quite possibly the fate of the universe… is in your hands._ ”

 

Everyone’s jaw dropped when they heard the words, “Suspended Animation”. They couldn’t believe it. They all looked at Pollux awkwardly. “Oh…” Vaughn said, sounding a bit disgusted, “Does that mean he was… Oh… When you scooped out his… Gah…”

 

“Oh Jesus…” Mion said putting her hands in her hair, “Don’t tell me we just…”

 

“No…” Sasha said, “No way. He had to be dead when we--When you--”

 

Fiona had cut her off by saying, “Don’t… Just don’t.”

 

Fiona then turned around behind her and noticed that someone was missing. “Hey.” She said, “Where’s Plutia?”

 

Plutia was already up the stairs to where Shadow and Rhys ran off. She took a peak and she saw that they were indeed talking to someone. She couldn’t make out what they were saying. She saw a blue silhouette image of a man standing in front of the both of them. Plutia squinted her eyes trying to get a better look but it was all in vain.

 

“I… Can’t see him.” Plutia whispered.

 

“ ** _Hold on._** ” She heard Iris say. Her markings started to glow a purple light again. When she blinked the image became clear *****. She saw the man clearly now. She couldn’t exactly describe the outfit that he was wearing nor could she describe his skin and hair color. All she knew was that he was hologram of some kind.

 

( ** _*Iris is able to enhance Plutia’s abilities to make them a bit stable, this only works with shared abilities_** )

 

“ ** _Well, he’s a fine looking son of a bitch isn’t he?_** ” Iris said in her head.

 

“ _But I don’t know who he is._ ” Plutia said to Iris mentally.

 

She soon saw that Rhys was starting to back up. “Ha! Your so stupid!” She heard the man say to Rhys while laughing, “Watch your head dickfa--” Just as Rhys hit his head on the girder, Plutia jumped when she saw the man disappear, Plutia couldn’t help but look around.

 

Rhys started to move like he was drunk. “Rhys, are you okay?” Shadow said to Rhys.

 

“I’m fine…” Rhys said groggily.

 

They soon heard Fiona shout from down below to Rhys, “Hey! Do you need our help!?”

 

“Nope!” Rhys said still trying to regain his balance, “I’m good!”

 

Plutia looked around wondering where the strange man had gone off too. “That man...” She said still looking for him, “Where did that man go?”

 

Shadow had finally noticed that Plutia was there. “Plutia?” He said, “What are you--”

 

Just than they were cut off when Rhys fell over the balcony. “ **RHYS!!** ” Shadow exclaimed while Plutia let out a scream.

 

Rhys fell to the floor and he just exploded with blood, covering Mion, Vaughn, Sasha and Fiona.

* * *

 

( **STRANGER** )

**Wait, what?**

* * *

 

- ** _Present; Somewhere on Pandora_** -

 

The small group were still walking through the deserts of Pandora in the beating sun to which they did not mind. All of them were equally confused by what Fiona had said in the story; even the people that were actually there.

 

“I didn’t hit my head!” Rhys said to Fiona.

 

“What are you talking about?” She said, “I saw you hit your head on that girder-”

 

Rhys cut her off, “Right, yeah, true I did hit my head on that, but I didn’t hit my head when I fell on the computers.”

 

“And obviously he didn’t explode, and there certainly wasn’t a lot of blood.” Shadow added.

 

“Well actually there was a bit of blood.” Plutia said.

 

Fiona smiled and said, “See? Exactly my point.”

 

The Stranger had said, “This is all very… Thorough. But what about Jack?”

 

Shadow and Rhys couldn’t help but look at each other at the mere mention of the name. “Right, Jack…” Rhys said.

 

“Yeah, about him.” Shadow said, “So in our version of the story…”

 

( ** _Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace_** )

 


	13. The Lost King Returns

**_(Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1)_ **

 

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; Atlas Secret Lab (Rhys & Shadow’s P.O.V)_**-

 

Shadow saw what appeared to be a silhouette of a person; a man specifically.  It had appeared to be a hologram of a person of somek kind but it was all blurry. In a matter of seconds, the holographic image started to become clear as well as the voice.

 

“ ** _ThIS LaDIes & GeNTlemAN Is tHE GoRtys ProJect aNd iT’s gOnnA lEaD us_**… To a Vault.”

 

The holographic image was now all cleared up. Shadow couldn’t help but let out a surprised gasp and his eyes went as wide as dinner plates when he saw the person behind Rhys and Fiona and had his hands on each of their shoulders.

 

“N--no…” Shadow stammered, “It ca--can’t be…”

 

Plutia noticed this, “What is it? Is there something the matter?”

 

Rhys soon noticed the look on Shadow’s face as well. He was about to ask when he heard a voice all too familiar to him say with his voice not sounding like a demon from hell, “And then I’ll probably kill you.”

 

Rhys turned and he couldn’t help but let out a small scream.

 

Both of them couldn’t believe who they saw. They couldn’t believe it was him. Jack! Handsome freaking Jack! Right there in the flesh! Well in a matter of speaking since he was a hologram! All the questions kept popping up in each of their heads. How was he standing there?! How was he even here?! They didn’t know what to think. Jack went over to Shadow and Rhys couldn’t help but follow.

 

“Okay Shady!” Jack said, placing his holographic hand on his shoulder, “Here’s what’s gonna happen, you and your new pal here… um… Sorry what’s your name again?”

 

Jack of course was asking Rhys, which he was still speechless about seeing him just standing their. Rhys honestly didn’t know what to say exactly, Shadow couldn’t blame him, he was having a hard time getting this together as well.

 

“Come on!” He said to Rhys, “Spit it out dum-dum, I don’t have all day!”

 

“I--Uh--” Rhys had stammered.

 

Jack raised an eyebrow giving Rhys and Shadow a confused look. But it wasn’t long until he saw the Hyperion Logo on Rhys’s vest. “Oh good!” He said walking away from the two, “You work for me. I thought I was gonna have to get violent for second there. Or, more violent.”

* * *

 

**_HANDSOME JACK_ **

**_SHADOW’S BEST FRENEMY_ **

* * *

 

“Come on.” Jack said as he started to look the facility, “Time's a wastin.”

 

Rhys couldn’t help but follow Jack. Shadow was about to do the same when he heard Mion. “Shades?” She said to him giving him a worried look, “What’s wrong? Is something the matter?” Shadow was once again shocked. He turned to the others and they didn’t even realize that Jack was in the room. He then turned to Mion, “Wha…? You mean you don’t see him?”

 

She tilted her head; She looked even more worried. “See who?” Mion asked, “What are you talking about?”

 

Than his attention was towards Plutia when she asked, “Are you sure you’re okay? She asked with concern, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

 

“I…” Shadow said, turning back to Jack who was now making his way towards the stairs, “You could say that.”

 

Jack walked up the stairs, “No turrets, no automated defenses.” He said while he chuckled a little, “It’s like, Atlas is just _**BEGGING**_ us to take it.” Rhys followed him up the stairs, and Shadow just stood there frozen in place not knowing what to do.

 

“Come on cupcake, what’s the hold up?” Jack asked Rhys. All Rhys did was stop in place turning to Shadow. He couldn’t up but shrug to him.

 

“ **GET OVER HERE!!** ” Jack shouted. Rhys immediately sprinted to where he was. Jack then pointed towards Shadow, “You. Here. **NOW.** ” He said in a menacing tone.

 

“I…” Shadow said just looking up there. He then shouted to the group, “I need to go!” With that he sprinted up the stairs leaving the others speechless to what had just happened. He stopped right where Jack had stood. “That took you long enough kiddo.” He said. He turned to Rhys, seeing that he was speechless.

 

“Yeah, I know.” Jack said walking away from them, “I’m your hero, you’re biggest fan, blah, blah, blah. Welcome to the club. Just try not to wet yourself down there kid. You might short something down there. Take notes Shady, you know I’m not one to repeat myself.”

 

As Jack started to talk, Shadow walked beside Rhys, still speechless by what was happening right now. “Rhys?” Shadow said getting his attention.

 

“Yeah?” Rhys asked.

 

Shadow had asked, “Please tell me you’re seeing this right now?”

 

All Rhys could do was nod his head and that was enough for him. All the young teen could do was shake his head in disbelief, “How--How is this even possible? How is he even here?”

 

“I--I don’t know…” Rhys said.

 

Jack had then turned to them noticing the looks on their faces, “Hey, can I ask why you two are looking at me like that?”

 

Rhys had then said, “Jack… You’re supposed--no--You’re dead!”

 

“I’m dead?” Jack said approaching Rhys, “I’m sorry what’s that supposed to mean? Are… you threatening me, little man?”

 

“ ** _Wait…_** ” Shadow though in his head, “ ** _He doesn’t know?_** ”

 

Jack lifted his hand in an attempt to grab ahold of Rhys’s throat. “Wha--Oh no! **NONONONONONONONO!!** ” Rhys couldn’t help but exclaim. Right when he let out a horrific scream and squeezed his eyes shut when Jack’s hand had gone right through. Shadow could’ve sworn that he heard a squishing sound down the stairs and Fiona shouting angrily. He’s attention was back to Rhys.

 

“Rhys calm down!” Shadow said, “Look!”

 

Rhys stopped opened his eyes and saw that Jack was filled with nothing but confusion.

 

“What the hell?” Jack said as he swung his hands through Rhys, “Are you screaming because you’re in pain, or are you freaking out ‘cause this is really weird? ‘Cause… It is weird.”

 

“See?” Shadow told him, “He can’t exactly hurt you.”

 

“Yeah, but it’s still disturbing that he’s hand is just going through my body!” Rhys said before telling Jack, “Please stop doing that!”

 

Jack simply ignored Rhys and continued to try and grab him, “This doesn’t make any sense.” He said, now trying to grab Shadow. His first instinct of course was to back up immediately. “Stand still damn it!” Jack said to him.

 

“Okay seriously!” Shadow yelled to him, “You need to stop that!”

 

Jack took back his hand and crossed his arms over his chest. He gave them both a quizzical look. Shadow let out a sigh, he knew this would probably be a bad idea to tell the man that can do God knows what, but he didn’t know what came over him.

 

“Look…” Shadow said to him, “It’s like Rhys said… Handsome Jack is dead. He’s--Well you’ve been dead for almost a year now.”

 

As expected, Jack’s eyes widened in disbelief when he heard those words leave his mouth. Jack’s arms hung on his sides. “No.” He immediately said turning away from them, “No, no, no, no, that’s impossible! I mean, I can’t just, die… I mean it’s just… No it’s too stupid! No way!”

 

“Uff…” Rhys had said, “Well neither of us had to tell another person that they died, so… Sorry? That must suck?”

 

Jack had turned back to them and said, “No, no, heroes don’t die. Not before the… The story get’s to the good part. This doesn’t make any sense.”

 

“Make sense or not, it’s the truth.” Shadow said, “You really are dead.”

 

Jack still didn’t want to believe it. “No. no, no, no, no, no.” He said, “I’m--I’m Handsome Jack. I--I don’t die. There’s too much left to do, it’s not happening. Not happening!” He approached Rhys again, “C’mere cupcake, lemme just try to rip out your throat one more time. Just one more time, c’mere!”

 

“Wait, what, no!” Rhys said as he started to back up from him. Shadow just stood where he was as he watched what was happening.

 

“See I just gotta be quicker about it, that’s what it is!” Jack said, reaching out to Rhys; He jumped back. “Stand still dammit!” Jack said, “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, c’mere!”

 

“Jack get it through your head!” Shadow said to him, trying to stop him, “You’re dead! Deal with it!”

 

“Yeah!” Rhys said, “Besides, I’m not afraid of you! Well--anymore!”

 

“Oh yeah?” Jack said, “Why you backing up tough guy? Where you going?”

 

Soon enough Jack started to laugh, “ **HA!** You’re so stupid!” He said, “Watch your head dickfa--”

 

Rhys hit his head on the girder cutting off Jack. The minute his head hit the girder the sharp ringing sound echoed through his head again causing him to squeeze his eye shut. The minute he opened them Jack was gone, which shocked both him and Rhys.

 

“Are you okay Rhys?” Shadow asked him.

 

“Ye--yeah I’m fine.” He said trying to gain his balance.

 

It wasn’t long till he heard the voice of a little girl. “That man… Where did that man go?”

 

Shadow turned to see that it was Plutia. “Plutia?” He said in disbelief, “What are you--?” Rhys than toppled over the balcony. “ **RHYS!!** ” Shadow exclaimed. Plutia screamed, “ **AH! HE FELL AGAIN**!” Rhys landed on top of the computers with a thud causing the small group to jump slightly.

 

“ **RHYS!** ” Vaughn exclaimed running over to him. “So. Much. Pain.” Rhys said sitting up, “Why am I… Still conscious? I don’t understand…”

 

“Oh my God, are you okay!?” Mion asked him.

 

“Ye--yeah, I’m fine.” Rhys replied, “I don’t know how I’m fine, but I’m okay.”

 

“You sure you’re alright?” Vaughn asked him, “I mean, before you were acting… Strange. Well Shadow is too, but… You sure you’re okay?”

 

Rhys knew he had to tell Vaughn since well; He can’t exactly keep secrets from his best friend. He knew he wouldn’t believe him at first but he decided to tell him.

 

“Vaughn…” Rhys said, “I know this is gonna sound crazy, but Shadow and I… We just saw Handsome Jack.”

 

Vaughn raised his eyebrows. “What are you saying?” He asked him.

 

Rhys clarified, “Handsome Jack… We--We saw him. He was right next to us.”

 

Vaughn of course didn’t believe him, as Rhys thought he would, “Right… Okay, well you have had quite a spill there.” Vaughn said, helping him up, “Let’s just get you off this thing. You know how these fumes can’t possibly be helping.”

 

Shadow and Plutia both came down the stairs, and Mion went over to him. She chuckled as she said, “Ah man, Rhys is such a kidder! Can you believe he thinks you saw Handsome Jack!” She couldn’t but laugh, but she soon stopped when she saw the look on Shadow’s face.

 

“He wasn’t kidding was he?” Mion asked him.

 

Shadow shook his head, and said, “No, he wasn’t.”

 

Mion than whispered to him so that Fiona and Sasha couldn’t hear her, “But how is that even possible!? For God’s sake he’s supposed to be dead!”

 

“I honestly don’t know Mion!” Shadow whispered back to her, “But he’s here, and I don’t fucking know how he could be here!”

 

He soon felt Plutia tug on his jacket; He turned to her as did Mion. “Um…” Plutia said, “Who’s Handsome Jack?” Both Shadow and Mion’s eyes widened in shock when they heard Plutia say that. “Wait… You don’t know Handsome Jack?” Mion asked her.

 

Plutia shook her head.

 

“But you saw him, and you don’t know who he is?” Shadow asked her.

 

“No.” Plutia replied, “But he does look familiar.”

 

“Familiar?” Shadow said, “What do you--”

 

But he was cut off when they heard Rhys say, “Ohh… I must be pretty out of it… I’m seeing stars… Shooting… Stars…”

 

“Shooting stars?” Shadow and Mion both said. They both looked up and saw what appeared to be--

 

“ **MOONSHOTS!!** ” Mion shouted.

 

“ **EVERYBODY GET DOWN!!** ” Shadow shouted soon after.

 

Everyone got down as the moonshots hit the near where they were.

  
( ** _Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace_** )


	14. Kiss the Sky

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora; Atlas Secret Lab_** -

Everyone got up from the floor trying to get through what had just happened. They saw that from Helios, they were still firing the Moonshots. “Moonshots!?” Sasha exclaimed, “Really? Moonshots!?”

“This is bad!” Mion said, “This is really, really bad!”

“We gotta get out of here!” Vaughn exclaimed.

Rhys picked up the core from the floor and desperately looked for a way out so that they could all get out. He soon realized that Loader Bot was still up there. “Loader Bot!” He exclaimed, waving over to him “LOADER BOT! HEY! GET US OUT OF HERE!”

“I can be of assistance.” Loader Bot said. He had then proceeded to help each of them out of the lab. After everyone was they went into the caravan and hitting the boost button they drove out of the arena.

Sasha shouted as she drove, “Why is Hyperion trying to kill us!? Don’t you work for those guys!?”

“Yeah, we’ll be sure to file a complaint when we get back!!” Mion shouted.

“ **CAN WE PLEASE FOCUS ON NOT DYING!?** ” Vaughn exclaimed.

Another moonshot landed behind them, causing the caravan to jump slightly; Most of the small group had lost their balance.

“Can’t this thing go any faster!?” Shadow shouted to Sasha.

Sasha had replied, “No! We used our boost to get out of there!”

“How long till it recharges?” Rhys asked her.

“A few minutes at least!” Sasha replied.

Rhys soon hatched an idea in his head, “Give me the wheel.” He said to Sasha.

“What? Why?” Sasha asked him.

“I can dodge the moonshots!”

“That’s impossible!”

“Not if I know where they’re going to land!”

“Then what?”

Another moonshot landed next to the caravan almost hitting it. Everyone managed to keep their balance. “We’ll go to Hollow Point!” Fiona said to Sasha, “They won’t be able to track us there!”

Sasha turned to Rhys still unsure if she should give him the wheel. “Sasha!” Shadow shouted to her, getting her attention, “Trust him! He’ll get us out alive!”

“Can’t you do it!?” Sasha shouted to him.

“It’s like I said before! My ECHOeye implant is not fully upgraded!” Shadow said, “The person that gave this to me is the only who can give me the upgrade, but he’s gone! Rhys is the only one who can do it!”

“But--”

“He can help! You just need to trust him!”

Sasha turned back to the wheel, before turning to Rhys. She sighed and moved from the driver's seat, “You had better know what you’re doing.” She said to him. Rhys had immediately gotten into the driver's seat. Fiona said to Rhys as she kept Plutia close, “Okay! Here’s what we’re going to do! Just keep us alive until that thing is full, and then we can boost out of here! Got it?!”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it!” Rhys said before shouting when he turned to the road, “ **I DON’T GOT IT!** ”

Through his ECHOeye, Rhys saw where the moonshots were going to land. As quick as he saw them he started to weave, dodging where the moonshots had landed on the desert ground. He continued this pattern to a point. He at first lost control of the caravan, but managed to gain control over it again, not knowing that he ran over something probably far worse than moonshots.

Rakks had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, hitting the window, of the drivers seat.

“ **GAH SHIT!** ” Rhys exclaimed, “ **WHERE THE HELL DID THEY COME FROM!?** ”

Up top on the roof, the rakks landed against the Loader Bot, causing him to lose his balance.

“Not cool.” Was all he said before he fell off.

The rakks landed against the windshield blocking the view. “ **GAH! I CAN’T SEE!** ”

Shadow turned to Mion; He shouted “ **LET’S GO!** ”

“ **GOT IT!** ” Mion shouted back before throwing him a gun. They went up to where Rhys was and started to fire onto the rakks, making them move, but more just kept piling on top of each other. “ **DAMN IT!** ” Shadow exclaimed, “ **THERE’S TOO MANY OF THEM!** ”

“ **SERIOUSLY! WHERE ARE THEY COMING FROM!?** ” Mion couldn’t help but shout.

Rhys groaned and said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this but… **FIONA HELP!** ”

“Plutie! I’m gonna need you to hang on tight!” Fiona said to her.

Plutia nodded and grabbed onto the kitchen counter provided in the caravan, and held on with a tight grip. Fiona ran up the stairs, and Sasha threw her a gun. She started to do what Shadow and Mion did and fire on the rakks, getting rid of them; the windshield had broke.

Just as they cleared the rakks they saw a moonshot coming towards them.

“ **INCOMING!!** ” Fiona shouted.

The moonshot hit the back of the caravan, causing it to jump and everyone to go flying. Fiona flew from where Rhys, and Sasha were, as did Shadow and Mion. Plutia had accidently let go of where she was holding and she hit the ceiling and fell to the ground passing out; her marks started to glow purple. Fiona, Shadow and Mion fell to the ground hard; Mion losing her gun in the process.

The three of them struggled to get up; Shadow and Mions eyes widened in shock.

“Oh shit…” Mion said as she stood.

“Guys, we have another problem!” Shadow told them as he standed up.

“What!? What is it?!” Fiona said. Shadow helped Fiona to stand up and saw what they with the open space in the caravan what they were talking about.

 

* * *

 

**_RAKK HIVE_ **

**_ IT'S A SKIN CONDITION _ **

* * *

 

Shadow and Fiona started to fire at it.

“What is it?!” Sasha shouted.

“ **RAKK HIVE!** ” Fiona shouted in reply, “ **IT’S A RAKK HIVE!** ”

Sasha jumped on to the table, with her gun in hand.

“ **THIS IS NOT AWESOME!** ” Vaughn shouted.

A rakk had suddenly flew through the open window where Rhys was. “ **GAH!** ” Rhys exclaimed.

“ **RHYS!** ” Vaughn, Mion and Shadow shouted.

Mion and Vaughn ran to Rhys to help him out with the rakk. Shadow continued to fire upon the rakk hive and the other rakks. “ **SASHA!** ” Fiona shouted, “ **GO AND HELP THEM! SHADOW AND I WILL COVER THE BACK!** ”

“ **WATCH OUT!!** ” Shadow shouted.

Fiona was rammed with one of the rakks, and she fell on her back. Shadow was the same and he had fallen. The rakk attempted to bite his face off, and he tried to punch it off seeing as how he lost his gun and couldn’t reach for his sword. But in an attempt to get him off the rakk with it’s mouth grabbed his left arm and managed to break it; he cried out in agony.

“ **SHADOW!!** ” Mion cried out before getting bitten on the shoulder by the rakk, “ **GAH! FUCK!** ”

Vaughn had hit the rakk with a frying pan.

Fiona tried managed to pin the rakk that was on her, but saw that Shadow was having trouble due to the fact that his arm had been broken.

Just than the purple light once again blinded most of the people in the caravan. “ **GAH THE LIGHT!** ” Vaughn shouted, “ **I’M GONNA GO BLIND!** ”

The purple light vanished as quick as it came. Iris stood in once again in all of her glory; When Mion, and Vaughn jaws dropped at the sight of Iris. She walked over to the rakk.

“ **HEY MOTHER FUCKER!** ” She shouted to the rakk, “ **NO ONE MESSES WITH FIONA, BUT ME!** ” She stomped on the rakks head that Fiona had pinned, killing it instantly, then kicked it towards the rakk that was on Shadow. The two rakks hit and they fell out of the caravan.

Shadow rolled on his side gripping his arm. “Go check on him Fi! I’ve got the rakks!” Iris said, taking out her sword and activating the whip mode ( _AN: IDK I couldn’t think of a good name for it :P_ ); She started to hit the rakks.

She ran over to Shadow and helped him to stand. “I’ve got you, you’re okay!” She reassured him. “Gah! Shit!” Shadow groaned still gripping his arm.

“I know, I know.” Fiona said.

Iris took down at least 20 of the rakks now, but saw that the rakk hive was still running. “Hate to rain on everybody’s parade but, this giant piece of shit is not gonna stop!” Iris shout to them.

“Rhys talk to me!” Fiona shouted to him.

Rhys turned his attention back to the road and saw that the moonshot had hit one of the mountains. “ **HANG ON!** ” He shouted. He pressed on the gas pedal and drove fast. It fell on top of the rakk hive but it shook it off.

“ **NEWS FLASH MR. ROBOTO, BUT YOUR PLAN DIDN’T WORK!** ” Iris shouted to him.

“ **WHOA, WHOA WATCH OUT!** ” Sasha shouted.

The moonshot soon hit near the caravan again; this time it caused it to spin; most that were standing had almost lost their balance; The caravan lost its wheel. It was forced to stop in it’s tracks and the rakk hive ran over it before stopping. It was preparing to charge.

“That’s definitely not good!” Mion said holding her injured shoulder where the rakk bit her.

“Just when I think I can’t take this thing anymore!” Vaughn exclaimed.

“We can’t stop it! Not with these guns!” Sasha said.

“Let me at em, I can take it out!” Iris said but was held back by Fiona.

“Don’t forget Iris, you’ll end up killing yourself and Plutia if you go up against it!” Fiona said to her.

“Well than what the fuck do we do!?” Iris shouted.

Shadow heard the ringing sound as he did many times before. His ECHOeye started to show static when it had activated. Shadow suddenly saw where the moonshot was going to land. “ _ **The hell!?**_ ” Shadow thought in his head. But he soon realized where the moonshot was gonna land; it was right in front of the rakk hive. He saw that the boost cannon was almost done charging.

“ ** _The moonshot…_** ” He thought, “ ** _That’s it!!_** ”

Shadow made his way to where Rhys was. “Hey, what are you--!?” Rhys asked but was cut off when Shadow said, “Don’t worry, I have a plan!”

He had his hand over the button and wait for when the boost was charged.

“The hell are you doing!?” Iris shouted.

“Come on, come on!” Shadow mumbled to himself.

Just as the boost was fully charged, the moonshot fired. “ **BRACE YOURSELVES!** ” Shadow shouted, as he hit the button.

( ** _Song Starts: Kiss the Sky by Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra_** )

“ **DAMN!** ” Rhys exclaimed, the caravan drove with a great amount of speed.

The small group couldn’t help but cheer as they went fast. The rakk hive charged at them; as they drove under it the moonshot hit the rakk hive; causing it to lose it’s balance and land on it’s side. The group had barely made it.

**_I hold my head enough to see the sky_ **

**_And when we go we won’t slow, we’ll put up such a fight_ **

**_When they fade into dust and into ash_ **

**_But all the children know for sure this pain will surely pass_ **

The caravan had suddenly lost it’s other wheel causing Rhys to literally to fly out of the driver seat, and Fiona to fly back; Iris flew back as did Shadow. The four of them managed to grab ahold of something before they flew out of the caravan.

“ **RHYS!** ” Vaughn shouted, before losing his grip.

Rhys reached out to him; and Vaughn did as well. They managed to grab a hold of each other's hands. But do to the speed that caravan was going Rhys was pulled by Vaughn.

Mion ended up being the same as Vaughn; she flew from where she stood.

Shadow was forced to let go of what he was holding onto and grabbed ahold of Mion’s hand. He was pulled by her.

Iris grabbed a hold of Shadow’s jacket collar before he and Mion could go flying out; Fiona grabbed ahold of Rhys’s foot to keep him from flying out as well.

**_Strong and wise and you are love_ **

**_And when the tide it comes you will float up above_ **

**_And you will be one day exactly what you are_ **

**_Just keep your head held high, kiss your fist and touch the sky_ **

****

The fabric of Shadows collar ripped and it caused him and Mion to fly out of the caravan; they both let out a scream as they flew. Rhys’s foot slipped out of his shoe and it sent him and Vaughn flying as well.

**_Too late, to keep the world from dying_ **

**_It’s not too late, to spread the love you have_ **

**_One day, when we are ready for crying_ **

**_One day, I know we’ll be there little girl_ **

Not only did they fly out of the caravan, but most of Fiona, Sasha and Plutia’s stuff flew out; including Plutia’s doll which Iris desperately tried to catch as it flew off. Sasha quickly went for the wheel to regain control of the van; as this happened more moonshots fired on their position.

**_Too late, to keep the world from dying_ **

**_It’s not too late, to spread the love you share_ **

**_One day, we’ll all be there yeah_ **

**_Yes we will_ **

****

The four of them hit the ground hard, and rolled in the sand, before coming to a halt. The last thing each of them saw was the caravan driving off in the distance, than the whole world turned black.

**  
  
** _(Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace)_


	15. Ametuar Hour

**_(Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1)_ **

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora (Rhys & Shadow’s P.O.V)_**-

Only a few minutes had passed before the four had regained conscious. Each of them slowly sat up and groaned, working through the pain that they each felt. “Ow…” Mion said, rubbing her head, “Dear God… It feels like a hangover but ten times worse.”

Shadow spit out some sand that had gotten in his mouth, he groaned before saying, “I’m never going on that ride ever again…” He gripped his broken arm when he felt the pain.

Vaughn fixed his glasses, “The list of things that might kill us just keep getting longer…” He said to the group, “I hadn’t even thought of moonshots…”

“Honestly, I don’t think any of us had…” Shadow said, as he provided to make himself a makeshift cast with the stuff that had fallen out of the caravan earlier; Mion had helped him out.

Vaughn continued; at one point referring to the rakk hive, “Rakks, skags, bandits, dehydration, heat stroke, regular stroke, stroke stroke, whatever that is… That murder pile. The list just keeps getting longer…”

Vaughn had suddenly jumped from where he sat. “ **I NEVER FELT SO ALIVE!** ” Vaughn exclaimed; he couldn’t help but laugh as he lifted his arms in the air. “ **THIS IS AWESOME!** ” He continued to shout, “ **I CAN’T IMAGINE GOING BACK TO FINANCIAL REPORTS… UGH BORING!** ”

Rhys, Shadow, and Mion couldn’t help but smile at Vaughn’s energy at the moment. “That’s the spirit buddy!” Rhys said to Vaughn.

“At least one of us is having a good time.” Shadow said, before ripping off a piece of his jacket to make the makeshift cast. After he finished, he helped Mion out with her wound.

“I know this must be weird to say, but I’m having a great time!” Vaughn said still filled with energy.

“Vaughn, I feel the same way.” Rhys said to him.

“I did say that Pandora would rub off on you now did I?” Mion said to Vaughn, punching his arm, “Makes me almost wish I never left this planet in the first place.”

Shadow scoffed at that; not agreeing with Mion’s statement, at least not entirely.

“This! This is what I’m talking about! Mixing up with Hyperion, teaming up with grifters? Come on!” Vaughn said, “These are the types of stories we’ll tell to our children when we’re millionaires! I mean, we just survived moonshots! From Hyperion. Huh!? Fricking moonshots!”

He than shouted, in the direction of the Helios station, “ **I AM NOT AFRAID ANYMORE! YOU HEAR ME HYPERION!? I AM VAUGHN AND I’M NOT AFRAID!** ”

Soon enough they heard a chime go off, making Vaughn jump. “Gah! What the hell was that!?” He exclaimed.

Rhys got up from the floor and said, “Relax. It’s just Yvette.”

“Oh… Okay.” Vaughn said still feeling a bit jumpy, “I have to pee. And not because I was scared… I had to go anyway.”

“TMI man.” Mion said, “TMI.”

“Still, it’s about time that Yvette called.” Shadow said.

“Yeah, no kidding. Wonder what kept her.” Rhys said before picking up the call. Of course they were right, it really was Yvette.

“ ** _Rhys! Shadow! Mion! You’re alive!_** ” Yvette said, sighing with relief, “ ** _Thank God you guys are okay. I thought that was it for a second there. I’m so relieved you guys are safe._** ”

“Thanks by the way about warning us.” Shadow said sarcastically.

“Yeah really.” Rhys said with sarcasm as well, “Thanks for that.”

“ ** _Trust me, I tried_ _._** ” Yvette told them, “ ** _I did_ _._** ”

“Tell her to send some supplies!!” Vaughn said as he did his business.

“Yeah, uh… don’t talk to us while you’re peeing!” Mion exclaimed, “It’s just gross!”

“Sorry!” He said, “I’m almost done!”

“Again! TMI!” Mion shouted.

“ ** _Anyway, I got them to stop shooting, but I can’t keep Vasquez from wanting to take you guys out._** ” Yvette said to them, “ ** _I’m doing what I can but it’s chaos up here, so I can’t talk long._** ”

“Can you send us some supplies?” Rhys asked, “Preferable some water and medical supplies. Shadow and Mion both got injured from when the moonshots were firing.”

“Alright I’ll see what I can do.” Yvette said, “I’m able to track you guys so just stay safe. I’ll see if I can get you the supplies.”

The call ended and the three of them couldn’t help but say sarcastically, “Coooolll…”

Vaughn was soon done with his business, but the three were surprised by what Vaughn was packing. He had his white shirt around his head, revealing his six pack which they were all surprised by. “Hopefully she can help us out.” Vaughn said not yet realizing that they were just in complete shock, “We can’t be walking through the desert too long. To go through all that dehydration would be lame.”

Vaughn had finally noticed that they were just in shock. Before Vaughn could ask, Mion had suddenly fainted when she had a sudden nosebleed, causing Vaughn to jump. “Ummm…” Vaughn said with confusion, “Is she okay…?”

“She’ll be fine just give her a minute.” Shadow said to Vaughn.

“More importantly... Should one of us be calling a doctor?” Rhys asked.

Vaughn was even more confused, “What? Why? What’s happening?” He asked with confusion.

“Cause you look all cut up!” Rhys said laughing at his own joke. Shadow couldn’t help but shake his head.

Vaughn started to panic, “Wha--what!? Am I bleeding!? Where am I bleeding!?”

“No, no, no, it’s not that you’re bleeding.” Shadow told him, “What he means is you're just weirdly buff.”

“Oh, is that it?” Vaughn asked, “I put an exercise bike in my office a few months back don’t worry about it.”

“Right.” Rhys said.

It wasn’t long till Shadow and Rhys heard a voice behind them. “He is pretty yolked.” They jumped when they saw that it was once again Handsome Jack. Vaughn just tilted his head in confusion when they reacted like that.

Jack walked past them and towards Vaughn, “I gotta say I’m a little envious of the definition he’s got going. Saving the world, it doesn’t leave you much time for the gym, I mean, I got muscles, where it matters sure, but… Damn I can never get that toned!”

“Could you not sneak up on us like that!?” Rhys said to him.

“Pssh.” Jack said, “Who's sneaking? I don’t sneak.”

“Oh so what, you’ve been here this whole time?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

Shadow asked him with a quizzical look, “Where did you go? I mean after Rhys hit his head you just, well... Vanished.”

Jack had simply replied, “Well that’s what I’ve been quietly contemplating, as I take in the desert air and wonder what kind of training resume you’re new pal is on.”

Mion got up wiping the blood from her nose and asked Shadow, “Are you talking to Jack right now?” She whispered

Shadow was about to answer her but was cut off when he heard Jack say, “Holy shit, is that Mimi? Damn it is her! Almost didn't recognize her with that ponytail!”

“Yeah, it’s him.” He whispered back, just to clarify it.

Rhys raised his eyebrow when he heard the name Mimi. "I'm sorry, but did you just call Mion Mimi?" He asked Jack.

"Well yeah." Jack said, "Shadow is Shady, and Mion is Mimi. I've always called them that! What Shady here didn't mention it?"

Rhys turned to Shadow. He felt slightly embarrassed, "It's sad but true." Shadow admitted.

“Shadow, Rhys? Who are you guys talking to?” Vaughn asked them.

Jack waved his hand in front of him; than he waved his hand in front of Mion, “So he and Mimi definitely can’t see me right?”

“You two are kind of freaking me out, we’re the only ones here.”

“Rhys, Shady, there’s no way this guy is gonna believe you two. I mean I get why Mimi there would believe you, but not this guy.”

“You two have been acting pretty weird.”

“I mean seriously, I barely believe this crap, and I’m in the middle of a nightmare!”  

Shadow turned to Rhys, as if he was asking, “Are you really going to tell him?”

Rhys simply nodded and all Shadow did was sigh and motioned him as if to say “Go ahead”. “So… You remember earlier when I said that Shadow and I saw Handsome Jack?” Rhys asked him.

“Sure, right after you fell down the ledge.” Vaughn replied.

“Yeah, well, it’s true. He’s standing right next to you.” Rhys said.

Although that was a lie since Jack was still standing next to him and Shadow. "Right..." Vaughn said in disbelief, "So Handsome... **_HANDSOME JACK_**. Is standing right next to me?”

“Right.” Rhys said while Shadow nodded his head.

“And I can’t see him, but you and Shadow are able to see him, and also talk to him.” Vaughn said still not believing it.

“That is also correct.” Rhys told him.

“He’s right you know.” Shadow added. At this point, Vaughn had just stood there dumbfounded; not knowing what to say. Jack leaned over to them and said, “He definitely thinks you both are crazy. Who exactly is this little musclebond tool?”

Vaughn turned to Mion as if to ask, “Is this for real?”

Mion replied, “I believe Shadow and Rhys here are telling the truth.”

“Vaughn, we know, how crazy it sounds but it’s true.” Shadow said, “If you want to, you can give a little test right now, that way we can prove it to you.”  

Vaughn let out a sigh of defeat before putting his hands behind his back, “Okay fair enough… Ask him how many fingers I’m holding up.”

Jack walked behind Vaughn to see, crossing his arms. “I don’t know…” He said, “He’s scratching his ass and uh… **OH GOD!** I think he may have pissed on his shirt! That’s not clean!”

“How many?” Rhys and Shadow said at the same time to Jack.

Jack just gave them a look before saying, “Three.”

Rhys than said to Vaughn, “Three. You’re holding up three fingers.”

Vaughn was taken back by this, “Lucky… Guess…” He said, just in mere shock.

“You know it’s not.” Rhys said.

“Well, I guess that proves it than.” Mion said.

Shadow looked up at the sky, using his hand to cover the rays of the sun, “We should try to find some shade, till Yvette can get us the supplies.”

“I…” Vaughn said still in shock, “I don’t understand…”

“Join the club.” Rhys, Jack and Shadow said at the same time. Rhys and Shadow both looked at Jack just to give him a really look, “Jinx.” Jack said out of amusement.

“Let’s go.” Rhys said. Rhys walked along with Jack and Vaughn who was still in shock. Shadow and Mion were about to follow behind, but he was stopped when he felt himself step on something. Shadow looked down and moved his foot, when he saw a familiar doll lying on the ground. “Hey.” Mion said noticing the doll too, “Isn’t that Plutia’s doll?”

“Yeah.” Shadow said, picking up from the ground, shaking off the bit of sand that was on it, “It must’ve fallen out when I turned on the boost.”

“Still can’t believe she changes into a completely different person though.” Mion said shuddering at the memory, “I mean, did you know that?”

“I did as a matter of fact.” Shadow said, “But even so, I'm still in shock about it."

"Well aside from that, Plutia seemed really attached to this doll. She's really going to miss it when she finds out it's gone."

"I guess we only have one option than."

Shadow placed the doll on the side of his belt like how Plutia does to hold it easier. He heard a click sound and made sure that it wouldn't fall off. "Awww." Mion couldn't help but say, "You're still such a sweet guy aren't you?"

"Shut up." Shadow said before catching up with Rhys, Vaughn and Jack; Mion did the same.

As they walked through the desert Jack couldn't help but say, "I don't know what state of being I'm in right now but uh... Well walking still sucks."

Vaughn couldn’t help but say, “Man, I mean, what are the odds?”

“What does he mean?” Jack asked Rhys and Shadow.

“What do you mean?” Rhys asked Vaughn.

Vaughn had then clarified, “I mean, of all the people Jack could be appearing to, it just happens to be the guy who's **_totally_** obsessed with him! I mean it’s crazy! It’s like destiny!”

Shadow, Mion and even Jack stopped in their tracks when they heard the word obsessed from Vaughn. They knew they were talking about Rhys, and they all equally had the same look on their faces; basically they had the “WTF” look and they specifically giving it to Rhys.

Rhys looked at them, and couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. “I’m sorry, but did he just say obsessed?” Mion asked him.

“Should we be concerned right now?” Shadow asked him.

“No, I think the better you should be asking right now Shady is, should we, or in this case I should be a little creeped out right now?” Jack asked, “Because I am feeling a little creeped out.”

Rhys let out a nervous laughter and said to defend himself, “Whaat? I wouldn’t say obsessed. I mean I admire his work sure, but obsessed I wouldn’t think that--”

“Okay, I’ll be honest right now.” Mion started to say, “You’re taking this to a weird place.”

“I agree with Mimi here.” Jack said, “So do me a favor and take it down a couple of notches kiddo. Not really digging how you’re looking at me right now.”

“I’m not sure obsessed is the word I would use, I mean, really think about it.” Vaughn said, “You got all those Handsome Jack posters in your office, so I think that’s pretty weird.”

“That makes two of us.” Jack said.

“Wait, you have posters of him all over your office?” Mion asked him.

“I’ll agree with Vaughn and Jack here.” Shadow said, “That is pretty weird.”

Rhys laughed nervously and said, “Those are, motivational posters, you know like the cat hanging from the… They’re Hyperion issued!”

They started to walk towards the shade that was nearby and sat down to cool themselves off from the beating sun. The group got to the shade and sat down to cool themselves off.

Mion couldn’t help but say, “But what I don’t understand is, why you two are the only ones that can see Jack. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it is pretty cool, but it sucks that we can’t see him.”

“I’m still trying to figure that out too.” Shadow said, as he thought about it in his head.

“Hmm…” Vaughn said before suggesting, “Maybe it has something to do with that Nakayama drive that we found.”

Jack gave a quizzical expression as he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed. “Namayaka?” Jack asked, “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“It could be that.” Rhys said, “I mean, we did both shove a bunch of data, straight into our heads.”

Jack snapped his fingers, “Ah, that’s Nakayama, right! The weirdo who was obsessed with me.” Jack turned to Rhys, “The **_other_** weirdo who was obsessed with me.”

“I’m not obsessed!” Rhys said to Jack.

Mion stood up to stretch her arms. As she did, she said, “I can totally see that Hyperion would just kill to get there hands on what we just uncovered!”

“Huh?” Shadow couldn’t help but say.

“In english so we can understand please.” Rhys said.

“You! Both of you!” Mion clarified, “Or body! Whatever Jack is in right now!”

“Yeah…” Jack said, scratching his chin, “They would, wouldn’t they?”

“Hey, she’s right!” Vaughn said, “Whatever version of Jack you both got in your heads, Nakayama must have stored it for a reason!”

“Damn right, even this idiot and Mimi get’s it!” Jack said to the two of them.

“Hyperion would scour the ends of Pandora, hell maybe the ends of the universe to get to it!” Mion said.

Shadow turned his head to the side and Rhys had said, “You know… This could actually save our careers.”

“Yes, yeah, exactly!” Jack said, “You and Shady need to get back up there kid! Get me to Hyperion… And you won’t regret it.”

“Well yeah, I guess so.” Vaughn said.

“I mean if you really do want to put it like that…” Mion said scratching her neck, before asking Shadow, “How about you Shades what do you think?” It wasn’t long till Mion noticed the look in his eyes, as he looked to the sky, his head resting on the rock wall. “Shades?” Mion said, a bit worried for her friend.

Rhys, Vaughn and Jack walked ahead of them as they heard Jack say, “We’ll run that place together kiddo, you, me and Shady. Mostly me, but whatever, that’s what we gotta do.”

Mion walked over to Shadow, and tapped him on the shoulder, making him jump slightly. “Shadow?” Mion said, “Are you okay?”

“Ye...yeah.” Shadow replied, getting up from where he was sitting, “I’m fine, I was just thinking.”

“Alright, if you say so..” Mion said, still a bit worried about him. They caught up with the others and as they walked to what appeared to a mill. They stopped in their tracks when they heard a booming sound in the sky; They all knew what it was exactly.

“It’s about time.” Vaughn said.

They saw that a moonshot had just fired from the Helios Station. “Yes!” Rhys exclaimed, “That’s gotta be from Yvette!”

“Hopefully she included some medical supplies, because we really need em right now.” Mion said.

However they saw that the container was heading towards them. “Uh-oh, incoming.” Jack said as he was laughing.

“It’s coming right for us.” Rhys said processing what it was happening.

“I guess that tracker is working huh boys and girls!” Jack said to them as he continued to laugh.

Everyone seemed to process what was happening and Rhys had shouted, “ **IT’S COMING RIGHT FOR US!!!** ”

“ **COME TO PAPA!!** ” Jack shouted, waving his arms in the air.

“ **EVERYBODY MOVE!** ” Shadow shouted, “ **NOW!** ”

Everyone, excluding Jack jumped to the side as the moon container hit the floor; Jack disappeared in an instant. Shadow had accidently landed on his broken arm, causing him to cry out in agony. The container opened and it revealed to be a red car. It drove were they were with great speed before coming to an abrupt stop. This caused a cloud of sand to fly into their eyes, and caused them to cough.

The window opened, and they heard a voice that was too familiar to them say, “Nice sock Rhys.”

They picked up their heads and saw that is their former boss, Vasquez. He took something from the passenger's seat and exited the car. It turns out what he had gotten out of the car was a gun of some kind, which made the group back up slightly. Shadow attempted to draw his sword but realized that his sword was missing. “Shit!” He cursed mentally, “I must’ve dropped it when we fell out of the caravan!”

“Fancy meeting all of you here.” Vasquez said, “Here I was out on a nice drive and I just happen to drop on right on the guys I was looking for.”

Rhys glanced over at his car, “I thought you wanted your car in black.” He said.

Vasquez started to laugh, which sent the group into confusion. They looked at each other, and they couldn’t help but shrug to one another.

“I see what you did there.” Vasquez said, “That’s funny. You steal my car, and you make jokes about it. That’s good, great stuff.”

Vasquez approached and they couldn’t help but back up from him, since he was the one holding the weapon.

“Look, I know we had a deal…” Vasquez said, “And while I don’t like going back on an agreement… Made man to man… The circumstances have changed.”

Before any of them were about to ask, the three of them heard Vaughn suddenly say, “ **THAT’S RIGHT WE DID HAVE A DEAL!** ”

The three of them turned to Vaughn, all of them equally had a surprised look on their faces. Vaughn had continued to say, “ **YOU CONVINCE TO DOUBLE CROSS MY FRIENDS INCLUDING MY BEST FRIEND, AND THE DAY ISN’T EVEN OVER AND YOU’RE DOUBLE-CROSSING ME!?** ”

Vasquez chuckled, “When you put it like that, it does sound awful.”

“Vaughn?” Mion said questioningly.

“Wow man…” Rhys said, “Just… Wow.”  

All Shadow did was stare at him wide eyed; unsure of what to say at the moment. He felt rage build up in his blood, but his rage was soon calmed when he saw the look in Vaughn’s eyes. Vaughn gritted his teeth and said to Vasquez, “Should’ve known better than to trust a snake like you.”

“Oh don’t be like that little guy. It’s just the way of the…” Vasquez’s words trailed off as he suddenly shuddered at the sight of Vaughn, “Listen I’m gonna go see if I got a shirt in the back cause your body is making me uncomfortable. Hold tight kids.”

Vasquez walked back to the car to get something from the trunk. The three of them in the group turned to Vaughn. “You mind explaining to us about this?” Mion asked him.

“Did you really make that deal with Vasquez?” Shadow asked him.

Vaughn had immediately said, “I know what this looks like, I really do. I told him I would sell the three of you out but I swear I wasn’t going to do it. I was just saying that to get that jerk off our backs! I wasn’t going to follow through with it. Please believe me. I swear to you guys, I would **_NEVER_** do that.”

Shadow sighed and said, “Normally when people say stuff like that to me, honestly I wouldn’t buy it for a second since I would know that they were lying to me. But you’re telling the truth, so I believe you.”

“I believe you too buddy.” Mion said to him.

Vaughn sighed with relief, “Okay good.” He turned to Rhys, “What about you? You believe me right?”

“It’s cool.” Rhys said with his arms crossed.

“Is it?” Vaughn asked him with a quizzical look.

“Sure.”

“I can’t tell if--”

Vaughn was cut off when two shovels were thrown at his and Rhys’s feet. “Umm…” Mion said, “Why are their shovels?”

Vasquez had said to Rhys and Vaughn specifically, “You two freaks start digging. I wanna see a decent grave going before to long.” He than turned to Shadow and Mion, “You two just stand away from them where I can see you both.”

Both Shadow and Mion slowly and hesitantly walked over to the side, at a distance away from Vaughn and Rhys.

“You’re not gonna make them dig their own graves?” Vaughn asked.

“Nah, see, they’re not going to be the ones that die on Pandora.” Vasquez said.

“What are you planning on doing with them?” Rhys asked him.

“Like I’m gonna tell you that.” Vasquez said, “Now stop talking and start digging.”

Vasquez pointed the gun towards Vaughn, and he hesitantly picked up the shovel and started to dig. Rhys didn’t pick up his shovel, and Vasquez pointed the gun towards him. “Don’t make me tell you again.

“Let’s just work this out.” Rhys said to Vasquez.

“We’re _**waaayyy**_ past that.” Vasquez said.

“No listen to me, I don’t know what you’re planning on doing with them, but we can make a trade.” Rhys said, “I can--”

“Sorry, but I’m not up for negotiation.” Vasquez said, “Seeing as how you’re going to be dead in a few minutes.”

Rhys looked to the shovel, wondering if he should really dig his own grave.

“What part of dig don’t you understand!? Let’s get going Mr. Universe!” Vasquez said to Vaughn.

“Okay, okay! Just don’t shoot.” Vaughn said as he started digging.

Rhys looked over to Vasquez; He bought back the shovel and threw it towards Vasquez. He dodged it and instead of hitting Vasquez, it hit the car’s windshield instead. Mion couldn’t help but stifle a laugh when that happened, and Shadow’s jaw just dropped when he saw that happened. Vasquez’s jaw dropped as well.

Rhys said awkwardly, “To be fair, that **_was_** supposed to hit you.”

Vasquez hit Rhys in the stomach. Shadow was about to go hit Vasquez in the face but Mion had stopped him from doing so. He hit Rhys on the head and the ringing sound echoed through Shadow’s head again and it had caused his eyes to squeeze shut. When he opened them, he saw that Jack was there as a hologram again.

Jack turned to Rhys and Shadow and just shook his head. Vasquez groaned as he rubbed his forehead, “Gah! Damn that smarts I think I did that wrong. You got a tough noggin. Looks so easy in the movies but…”

“Ametuar hour.” Jack said, before pointing to a part of his nose, “You gotta aim for the bridge of the nose dum-dum.”

He said to both Rhys and him, “How is it everytime I show up you guys end up in a worse situation than the last?”

“Not helping.” Rhys and Shadow said through gritted teeth.

“Alright fun’s over.” Vasquez said before pointing the gun to Rhys and Vaughn, “Looks like we’ll be settling for the shallow variety of graves. Rhys you die first, than these three can load your body in the car. I’ll have these two bury Vaughn.”

“What?!” Vaughn and Mion shouted at the same time.

“Yeah they want this idiot’s body up there for something uh…” Vasquez said, “Important floating around in his head.”

Rhys, Shadow and even Jack turned to each other, knowing exactly what Vasquez was talking about.  Rhys mouthed to Shadow, “ _He thinks I’m the only one?_ ”

“ _Looks like._ ” Shadow mouthed back to him.

“Wait, why did you ask Rhys to dig his own grave if you were going to put him in the trunk?” Mion asked him questioningly. Vasquez ignored her question and finally explained the gun he was holding, “This is a prototype. The most advanced gun Hyperion has ever made.”

Jack chuckled slightly, “Someone’s overcompensating.”

The gun started to charge, making Rhys and Jack ( ** _Despite the fact that he’s a hologram_** ) backed up slightly. Shadow was yet again, about to go and stop him, but the gun started to glitch out. The gun shut down, and everyone stood there in silence even Vasquez stood there dumbfounded; Shadow and Mion both moved back to Rhys and Vaughn.  “Any… Last words?” Vasquez said awkwardly as he tried to figure what was wrong with his gun, “Before the… How does it… Inevitable…God-Damnit.”

“I’ve got two for you.” Rhys said, “Eat shit.”

“Nice choice of words.” Shadow said with his thumb up.

“Yeah, that’s the spirit.” Jack added.

“That was seven words. But I’ll be sure to put ‘ate shit’ on your tombstone.” Vasquez said.

“Yeah… If I were you, I’d be more worried about his tombstone if you knew where the safety was.” Shadow said with a smirk.

“Oh you’re hilarious.” Vasquez said sarcastically.

Vaughn had said awkwardly, “Um… Is there a problem?”

“I know how to shoot a gun!” Vasquez said, “I just want to get the maximum damage out of this thing!”

Finally Jack had gotten fed up, “Alright, as much as I’d love to watch this idiot kill you four idiots, I can’t let that happen! I mean I’m inside one of you… I mean I’m not inside one of you, look if one of you goes, I don’t know who, than I go!”

“What do you suggest we do exactly?” Shadow mumbled so that Vasquez couldn’t hear him.

“We can’t exactly fight our way out of this!” Rhys said.

“I’ve got that covered!” Jack said, before turning to Rhys, “I’ve enhanced your ECHOeye so use it to hack something, and get us the hell out of this jam. Figure out how you can pay me back later, I’ve got both of your backs.” Jack went to pat them both on the back but both of his hands went right through their shoulders, earning a look from both of them.

“Riiight…” Jack said awkwardly, “Okay, now mess this guy up!”

“You might as well.” Shadow said to Rhys, “I mean, I can’t exactly fight in my condition, plus, I lost my sword.”

Rhys nodded his head to the both of them, and his ECHOeye started to become active. He had decided to see if he can get into the car, but he saw something that was all new to him. He was now able to access the car.

“Hohoho, deeper subsystem access, that’s new.” Rhys said.

“You think you’ll be able to do something with that?” Shadow asked him.

Rhys got the radio to turn on which made Vasquez jump. “Did you do that?” Vasquez asked him, but all Rhys did was shrug and had an innocent look on his face. “And paranoia! It begins!” Jack said with a smile.

“Did you really do that?” Mion whispered to Rhys.

“Yep.” He replied.

“That’s so cool!” Mion said, “What else can you do?”

Rhys had activated the horn, which had started honking like crazy, which made Vasquez jump again. “ **SURPRISE!** ” Jack exclaimed.

“The hell is going on?” Vasquez said.

“Anything that can help us?” Shadow asked him.

“Working on it.” Rhys said back to him. Finally he had activated the car, and he started to drive it. The car backed up at a good distance. He pushed on the accelerator and it drove right into Vasquez. Everyone jumped to the side as the car drove right by them. “Whoa man!” Mion exclaimed, “That was amazing!”

“Did you do that just now Rhys?” Vaughn asked him as he stood up.

“Yeah, I just did.” Rhys said, “Pretty crazy right?”

Shadow got up from the ground, and what surprised them was that Shadow had started laughing like a madman. “HAHA!” He shouted, “ **HE SHOOTS HE SCORES! OH GOD THAT IS FUCKING HILARIOUS! DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT CAR HIT HIM!? IT JUST WENT BAM AND HE WAS LIKE AAAAHHH! OH GOD I CAN’T HANDLE IT!!** ”

He continued to laugh to the point where tears started to come out of his eyes, while pointing over to Vasquez who was unconscious at the moment. The group after a closer look at Shadow soon realized that his ECHOeye, was blue instead of red. This had freaked the three of them. “Shadow?” Rhys said, “What’s wrong with you?”

“You’re freaking us out here.” Mion said.

“Yeah.” Vaughn said fixing his glasses, “Why are you laughing like a psycho? Or for that matter, almost talking like one?”

Shadow suddenly threw his hands over his mouth; his ECHOeye was back to the familiar crimson red color. He said to them hesitantly, “That… **_wasn’t me_**.”

The three of them had a quizzical expression on their faces.

“Wasn’t you?” Mion asked him, “What do you mean?”

Shadow blinked, and his ECHOeye was once again back to the blue crystal color. He looked at his own hands, and was pretty amazed by this. He started to feel his own face, slapping his cheek a couple of times, before his eyes widened in realization.

“Well hello. Now this is an **_interesting_** little development we have here.” He said as he felt his own arms and legs, “Man, I gotta say it feels kind of strange to be in a body again, especially like uh... How old is he again? He's like a teenager, right? Rhysie, kiddo help me out here.”

Rhys raised his eyebrow but had soon put together what was happening right now. “Jack?” He said questioningly.

Mion and Vaughn did a double take when he had said a single name. “What?” They both said.

Shadow started to groan agony and he fell back to his knees; as he blinked his ECHOeye kept switching from blue to red. “ **GET OUT OF MY HEAD! YOUR NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE, SO GET OUT!** ”  

Switching to blue he had said, arguing with himself, “Ah come on Shady, don’t be like that!”

“Shadow!” Rhys exclaimed running over to him.

“What’s wrong with him!?” Mion exclaimed, “Why is he screaming like that!?”

“I don’t know!” Rhys said.

Vaughn saw Vasquez getting up from off the floor, “Uh guys, we’ve gotta go! Now!”

“Rhys…!” Shadow managed to say his ECHOeye changed back to red, “You mind doing me a favor?!”

“Yeah, sure what is it!?” Rhys said.

“I need you to punch me!” Shadow said to him, before his ECHOeye changed back to blue; he smirked and said, “Seriously kiddo, that’s your little plan? You know that’s going to hurt you more than it hurts me. Pfft, who the hell am I kidding, I just found out about this and it’s fucking awesome! Don’t get me wrong it’s still weird but, it’s awesome! I’m practically shaking here!”

Rhys said, “Punch you why?”

His eye changed back to red, “Don’t ask questions! Just punch me! **NOW!** ”

“Okay, okay!” Rhys said, before letting his robot fist impact with his face making Shadow to fall over on the ground; his blood started to come out of his mouth, since Rhys actually knocked out a tooth. It wasn’t long until Rhys heard the actual Jack say, “Ha! See I knew that was going to happen! That is gonna sting like a--” And than he had vanished.

“ **GUYS!!** ” Vaughn shouted. He pointed towards Vasquez who was looking very pissed off. Rhys helped Shadow off the ground, they had started to run from him. Vasquez got back in his car, “ **GO AHEAD AND RUN! YOU’RE JUST MAKING THIS FUNNER FOR ME!** ”

He started the car and drove towards them attempting to run them over. “ **I’M GONNA KILL YOU!** ”

“ **OH SHIT THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT GOOD!!** ” Mion shouted.

“ **WE’RE GONNA END UP DEAD!!** ” Vaughn shouted.  

They soon heard something fly from a distance. It flew towards them and lifted them up off the ground. It had turned out it was none other than--

“ **LOADER BOT!!** ” Rhys exclaimed.

The group couldn’t help but cheer. “ **YES! I KNEW YVETTE WOULDN’T LET US DOWN!** ” Vaughn shouted through the wind.

“I missed you.” Loader Bot said.

“I’ve missed you more.” Rhys said with a smile.

As the group flew away, Vasquez stopped to get out of his car. He raised his fist to them. “ **THIS ISN’T OVER! YOU HEAR ME!?** ”

The four of them flew through the air with, Shadow and Mion on Loader Bots shoulders while he was holding on to Rhys and Vaughn. “So what do we do now?” Vaughn asked the group, “I mean should we meet up with the others at Hollow Point or Old Haven? It’s not like they don’t know where we’re going!”

“I suppose we could go to Hollow Point, but that could be dangerous!” Rhys said, “Or we could go straight to Old Haven from here!”

Shadow then suggested, “Wouldn’t it be better if we just split up!?”  
  


 

“Huh?” Rhys and Vaughn said not quite hearing him.

“I said we should split up!” Shadow said, “You guys can go to Old Haven while Mion and I can meet up with them at Hollow Point, so they don’t get the wrong idea!”

“Yeah that could work!” Vaughn said, “I don’t mind doing that!”

“Let’s go to Hollow Point first then!” Rhys said, “After we drop you guys off we’ll head for Old Haven with Loader Bot!”

“First stop, Hollow Point.” Loader said to the group.

Loader Bot started to fly them to where Hollow Point was with great speed.

**  
_(Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace)_ **


	16. Parting Gift

**_(Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1)_ **

- ** _Present_** -

The group were currently hiding behind a boulder looking to a vehicle that was nearby. Fiona and the Stranger were both looking over to the car while Rhys, Shadow and Plutia sat against the rock.

“Got one.” Fiona said, seeing a Bandit try to replace the tire.

The Stranger armed his gun and pointed towards the Bandit and prepared himself to fire. Shadow looked over to what was happening, and said to the Stranger, “You should let the guy finish up first. Don’t waste the bullets over nothing.”

The Stranger looked over to him, and said, “Yeah, okay.” And he went ahead to put the gun to the side. He turned to Shadow, “I’m curious, why did you decide to split up? What was there to gain?”

“It felt like it was the right thing to do.” Shadow said to the Stranger.

“The right thing to do? Really that sounds a bit cliche don’t you think?” Rhys said.

“At least your good buddy had the right idea there!” Fiona said with a pissed off to him.

The Stranger said to him, “Well, we all have our reasons. I suppose your reason is good enough.”

“Yeah, if they were, we wouldn’t be here!” Fiona said, glaring at Rhys.

Rhys stood up and said, “A man can only take so much!”

“Luckily your a safe distance from a man!” Fiona retorted.

“You guys come on.” Plutia said trying to calm the two down, “Don’t argue again.”

The two seemed to ignore Plutia’s protest to stop fighting, and they continued to argue.

“You had a car!” Rhys said, “And we were stranded out in the desert, not to mention Shadow and Mion were both injured! Did you even **_CONSIDER_** to come back and get us!?”

“Hey!” Fiona said, “For your information, we had our own--”

**BANG!** The gun rang through their ears cutting them off.  They all picked up their heads when they saw the Bandit that owned the car was dead. They gave him a look and the Stranger looked at all of them. They could almost swear that he was giving an innocent look to them.

“One of you will have to change a tire.” Was all the Stranger said to them.

Shadow sighed and said, “I got it.”

“I’ll help!” Plutia said with a smile.

The two of them walked over to the car and started to work on changing the tire.

* * *

 

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora (Fiona & Plutia’s P.O.V)_**-

Rhys, Vaughn, Shadow and Mion flew out of the caravan, as it continued to drive throughout the desert. Soon enough they had disappeared over the desert horizon. “ **FUCK!** ” Iris cursed when she Shadow and Mion went flying and at the fact that Plutia’s doll went flying out as well.

“ **GAH! DAMN IT ALL!!** ” Fiona shouted as well.

They soon hit another bump on the road as they kept driving with the boost.

“ **WE CAN’T TURN AROUND! NOT WHILE THE BOOST IS STILL ON!** ” Sasha shouted to them.

They hit yet another bump and some stuff in the caravan went flying. Iris noticed that Shadow’s sword was about to fly out but was quick to grab ahold of it. “ **GET US TO HOLLOW POINT, HURRY!** ” Fiona shouted to Sasha.

They eventually made it to Hollow Point with most of the caravan in tact. “I can’t believe we made it.” Sasha couldn’t help but say as she drove further within the cave. She turned to Fiona, “You think the guys will be okay?”

Fiona had replied, “They’ve got those two teens with them that lived on Pandora for almost their entire lives. So I’m sure they’re alright. Besides we couldn’t help them even if we wanted.”

“Good point.” Sasha said.

Plutia who had already changed back was in panic. She bit her finger and rocked back and forth. Fiona noticed this behavior, and went over to her. “Plutie?” Fiona said, “Hey what’s the matter?”

“My doll… My doll that mother made me…” Plutia said to Fiona, “It fell out of the caravan.”

Fiona gave Plutia a comforting pat on the back, “Don’t worry, once we get the caravan fixed up, we’ll drive back to look for it.”

“O--Okay.” She said still distressed about it.

They had eventually drove up to a shop that was tilted “SCOOTER’S”. “I hope he’ll be able to fix it.” Sasha said, “We’re not exactly rolling in cash right now. How are you gonna get him to do it?”

“Oh please.” Fiona said to her, “This is ME doing this. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Alright, just don’t get too, cocky.” She told her.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out. You stay here with Plutia. I’ll do the talking.”

Fiona went to open the door of the caravan, but it ended up falling out of place; Literally. It took her by surprise when she pushed the door open. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Sasha said, before going over to Plutia.

Fiona stepped out of the caravan and entered the shop. She looked around the shop, seeing that there was posters and such plastered on every inch of the walls. A lot of the posters contained the death race; some being of Bossanova and other’s being of the Black Wind. She continued to look around the place until she heard a voice that had belonged to the owner.

“Alright, carry the three, divide by twelve… What the hell man, I gotta cut down my wrench budget…”

The owner looked up and noticed Fiona was in the shop; He tossed the clipboard he had in his hand to the side.

“Aw hey man, welcome to Scooter’s Catch-A-Ride!” He said, “What can I do you for today?”

* * *

 

**_SCOOTER_ **

**_LOVES CARS, WOMEN AND CARS (IN THAT ORDER)_ **

* * *

 

Fiona was a bit confused when she saw that Scooter was doing a pose, to well… No one in particular. She looked in the direction he was doing his pose, and just stood there dumbfounded.

Scooter had said not really noticing her expression, “Sorry if I seem a little distracted-Hopefully handing the place over to the new proprietor today, and I gotta get all these numbers and stuff in order, and uh, it’s a lot. I don’t know if you know this but transition from “small business owner” to “franchise order” is surprisingly difficult.”

Fiona took another glance around the shop. “Nice place you got here Scooter.” She commented.

“Aw thanks man.” Scooter said with his usual smile, “That means a lot. Business has been a little slow so far--y’know being in a hidden cave town and everything-but it’ll pick up, haha. Hope it picks up.”

Scooter soon noticed the caravan outside of his shop. “ **HOL.EE.CRAP.** ” He said, “I knew I recognized this rig from somewhere--You were in the latest Bossanova Death Rally!!”

Fiona was a bit surprised that he actually knew about that, but not really considering he had posters of it all around his shop.

“Oh I was there man!” Scooter said, “D’you see me I was waving! You were a **BADASS!** ”

Fiona just smiled and went with it, “Yep, you caught me.” She said with a smile.

Scooter took another look at the caravan. “That thing’s beat up as hell and back man. I can fix it, but it’s probably gonna run you about twenty-five hundred cold ones.”

Fiona’s eyes widened when she heard the price. “Twenty-five hundred?” She said, “That’s a little out of my price range.”

Scooter turned to her, “Not to be impolite or nothin’... but you must’ve won a buttload of money from that race, right? Where did it all go? Cuz my cousin, right? He said that his sister’s friend’s neighbor’s husband won one of them races one time and the cash kept them fed for **WEEKS**.”

Fiona had replied, “Yeah, someone stole it. Can you believe that?”

“Yes. Actually, yes I can.” Scooter said.

Scooter rubbed the back of his head. “Well tell me this: You think you could ever see yourself racing again?” He asked her, “Let me pitch ya somthin’ and it might be crazy. But if you keep racin’ I would love to endorse you as a SPONSOR. Whaddya say?”

Fiona had replied, “Scooter sir? You have got yourself a deal!”

They both shook hands, “Yeah!? Aw man this is **AWESOME!** ” Scooter said with excitement, “You will not regret this, no way, no how man. Bad **ASS!** Say it once for me, y’know the catchphrase? ** _Catch-A-Riiiiiiide?_** You know it? Come on say it once for me!”

Fiona didn’t really want to say it; but she wanted to endure it, since they really needed to fix the caravan. She had her arms spread and said, “ ** _Catch-A-Riiiiiiiiide_**!”

Scooter couldn’t help but let out a high pitched laughter when he heard her say those words. Scooter had then suggested, “I’m thinking that we put a big ol’ ad on your van--Y’know, like maybe a picture of me with, like, “ ** _Catch-A-Riiiiide_** ” up above it, y’know, all cool right? I’m looking at all badass with you, and we’ll put some… Badass pictures of you with your car and your hat and all that…”

Sasha and Plutia (Who had her hair braided again) entered the garage while Scooter was giving suggestions on how the advertisements were going to be. Sasha got his attention, “Hi, “Scooter” right?”

Scooter couldn’t help but stare at Sasha looking very dumbfounded. The sisters didn’t really take notice of his expression on his face. Sasha asked Scooter, “Everything okay?”

Scooter said, while almost stuttering, “I was uh, I was just gonna, y’know… go grab the paperwork. Lemme take care of that, okay bye.” Scooter went ahead to get all the papers that were need together. He handed the clipboard and pen over to Fiona.

“Alright man, here’s my standard endorsement contract.” He said, allowing Fiona to take them, “Don’t mind the sub-clauses about, uh, explosions and whatnot. I might’a copied it from, Torgue… Anyway I figured as long as I’m in there and, ha, doin’ it for free, maybe you wanna splurge and get some of the special packages? I got some good ones!”

Plutia couldn’t help but ask Fiona, “Can I choose big sister? Please! I promise I’ll chose a good one!”

Fiona said to her, “I don’t see why not. Just don’t choose something too expensive.”

Plutia jumped up and down with excitement, before going over to computer where Scooter was.

As they waited for Plutia to make her decision, Fiona, Sasha noticed two suspicious people walk into the shop; Scooter noticed them as well. “Awww, crap, this does not look good.” Fiona and Sasha ducked behind the table and Plutia was out of sight from them; Scooter went over to them.

“Heya fellas, what can I do you for?” He asked them.

One of them took out two wanted posters from behind his back; one had Plutia on it and the other was Fiona.

“Oh, no.” Sasha whispered.

Scooter took the poster taking a closer look at it.

Sasha said to Fiona, “I just hope that little deal you two struck is enough to get him to look the other way.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Fiona reassured her, “He won’t sell us out, or our sister.”

“You don’t know that. We don’t even know what the reward is this time!”

“Come on, you just gotta have a little faith.”

They saw one of the men punch Scooter in the gut, and elbowed him, causing him to fall to the ground, and they walked away. Plutia came over to Fiona and Sasha when she finally realized that there was something going on.

“Is everything okay?” Plutia asked them.

Fiona and Sasha got up and Sasha said, “Don’t worry Plutie, everything is fine.”

Scooter got up from the floor and wiped the blood off of his face, “... Yeah, that’ll teach em! Hope you ladies weren’t too scared. Just doin’ my duty, keeping ruffians and crap out of my garage. I’m a real protector type.”

Fiona couldn’t but ask, “Why did you do that?”

Scooter replied, “Hey man, you three are my customers, and seem like nice folks. If you got people after you, that ain’t none of my business but I ain’t the type to turn you in.”

“What if they try to kill you?”

“Then it’d just be another day that ends with “Y”. Ha, **HA.** ‘Cause the days ends with a “Y”. But seriously, folks tryin’ to kill me ain’t new. I’m used to it. But it does seem like bad men are looking for you, you got a place to lay low while I get your ride fixed up?”

Plutia had then suggested, “Maybe we can go to the safehouse? We can get what we need there.”

“If Felix hadn’t been there first.” Sasha said.

Fiona told them, “It’s only option we got. We better get going.”

While Scooter got the Caravan into the garage the three sisters made their way to the safehouse passing by a wanted poster, not even realizing that they were being followed.

* * *

 

- ** _Later at the Safehouse_** -

Sasha was the first to open the door with her gun armed and ready, none of them were really surprised to see that no one was inside; but they did see that the safehouse was a mess. “Looks like he had company while he was away.” Fiona said.

Sasha shut the door behind her, “It could be Felix.” She said.

“Could be.”

Plutia couldn’t help but wonder aloud, “Maybe it wasn’t Felix, maybe it was someone else.”

“Let’s not worry about that.” Sasha said, “We need to get what we need and then get out of here.” Fiona and Plutia nodded there heads and started to take a look around the place. They didn’t really find much, except for a homemade grenade.

“I don’t see any other extra cash lying around here.” Fiona said, “He must’ve cleared everything out before we got here.”

“As to be expected.” Sasha said with a bit of an angry tone in her voice.

Plutia went over to the panel, “Big sis, don’t jump the conclusions. Maybe there’s something in the safe.”

“Well, couldn’t hurt to look.” Fiona said. She moved the panel and it had revealed the safe from behind the panel. It scanned her hand and the safe door opened. When she opened it, she found another homemade grenade and what appeared to be a--

“Great, a flashlight.” Sasha said, “Maybe if we go camping…”

“It doesn’t look like a flashlight.” Plutia said.

“It’s called a blacklight.” Fiona said, “Felix used this to check our first counterfeit bills.”

Sasha had said, “Oh, it did look familiar. It’s hard to believe that asshole would be sentimental enough to keep in his safe.”

“Not unless he meant for us to find it.” Fiona said.

She picked up the homemade hand grenade, and the blacklight, with a flick of a switch she turned on the blacklight near the paint can and found something interesting. “Big sis, come look at this!” Plutia said.

Sasha looked over Fiona’s shoulder. “What the hell?” There they saw on the paint can, was actual paint that they weren’t able to see before. “What kind of paint is this?” Plutia asked.

“It’s ultraviolet paint.” Fiona replied. She saw that there was a trail of it. “I guess he wanted to keep all this a secret.”

“Well, he left for us to find.” Sasha said, “So… There’s something he wanted us to see.” Fiona followed the trail and it lead right to Felix’s favorite chair which had read, “Hot!” Fiona moved the light downward and saw that the arrows pointed underneath the chair.

“There it is!” Plutia said, “Under there!”

“Sweet!” Sasha said.

Fiona moved the chair back enough to see what appeared to be a loose floorboard. Fiona removed it and found what appeared to be an ammo crate. “I swear if you find another a flashlight in there I’m leaving.” Sasha said.

She opened it and found tons of money as well as, ECHOComm device. “What is it?” Sasha asked her.

“An ECHOComm.” Fiona replied.

Sasha sat beside her two sisters and looked over Fiona’s shoulder. “Why is there a--” Sasha said but she got cut off, when the ECHOComm turned on.

Felix appeared on the small screen, “ ** _If you’re watching this… I’m either dead, or worse… My plan worked._** ” Felix said in the ECHOComm, “Fiona, Plutia, Sasha, I’m sorry. There’s so much I want to tell you, but the less you know, the better.”

“Give me a break.” Sasha said, before Plutia shushed her.

Felix had continued in the ECHOComm, “ ** _Halfway through the con I realized that we were messing Vallory’s people. The same people that have said to have outgunned the Black Wind himself. I knew that and I never revealed it to any of you. If you’re watching this, it won’t be long before she comes after you. Change your names, change your appearance, change your life, take what you need and go.  Forget about the life you had, forget about me… But know that I love you all. With all my hea--_** ”

Sasha had grabbed the ECHOComm, and out of rage, she threw it across the room; making Plutia jump. “Big sis…” Plutia said sadly, “Are you mad at what Felix did?”

Sasha didn’t answer her, she just paced angrily; making grunts. Fiona had said, “You know… It’s okay to be mad Sasha.”

“ **GOOD!** ” Sasha yelled, “ **CAUSE I AM! I’M NOT GONNA LISTEN TO ANOTHER SECOND OF HIS BULLSHIT!!** I can’t believe you let him live… Why did you worn that son-of-a-bitch? You should’ve let that blown up right in his face!”  

“I couldn’t let that happen to him.” Fiona told her.

“Big sister is right.” Plutia said, “He took care of us, so he’s our family.  She couldn’t just let him die.”

“ **DON’T YOU TWO GET!?** ” Sasha couldn’t help but yell, “ **IT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY! THE SECOND A BIG SCORE SHOWS UP HE BETRAYED US!** We had it… Ten million dollars… We had it right in our hands… It was enough to get us off this planet… For good.”

At that point, tears started to run down her cheeks; all of it was out of sadness. Plutia immediately went to go and comfort her. “Big sis, it’s gonna be alright.” Plutia said, “Everything is gonna be just fine. You still have us.”

Sasha couldn’t help but hug Plutia out of comfort; Plutia just hugged  her back.

“Plutia isn’t wrong.” Fiona said to her, “First thing we do, is we’ll find this Vault, take all the riches it contains, than we can get off this miserable rock. I promise you, one of these days you’ll be looking down from Pandora in space.”

Sasha broke out of the hug and said to Fiona and wiped away her tears, “I’m gonna hold you to that.”

“You always do.” Fiona said.

Plutia’s stomach suddenly made a growling sound. She laughed out of embarrassment. Sasha laughed and said, “I guess we should eat something, who knows when we’ll eat again.” She went over to the pan and started to cook up an egg sandwich. Fiona looked within the crate and saw that there was a total of three boxes. One was labeled, “F”, the second was labeled “P” and the third was labeled “S”.

Fiona took out the box that was labeled “F”. She opened and saw what was inside. “What is that?” Plutia asked her.

Fiona replied as she examined what was inside, “It looks like some sort of an upgrade, but it still only hold one shot.” She had looked further within box and found a second bullet, “Sweet! Now I have two bullets!” She said. She took out the box that was labeled “P”. “Here Plutie.” Fiona said handing her the box, “He left you something as well.”

Plutia took the box from Fiona and opened. “A bracelet?” Plutia said taking out of the box, “Made from crystal?”

 

“It looks beautiful.” Fiona said.

Plutia nodded her head, and placed it on her left wrist. She couldn’t help but admire it so. Plutia picked up the box that was labeled “S” She was about to open it but Fiona stopped her; She shook her head and took the box from Plutia’s hands. “Sasha.” She said, getting her attention, “This one's for you.”

Sasha took only one glance at the box, before going back to cooking, “I don’t want it.”

“Are you sure big sis?” Plutia asked her, “You’re not curious?”

“Yeah, at least not a little bit?” Fiona asked her.

“I’m sure I don’t want it.” Sasha told them not making eye contact.

“Oh, alright.” Fiona said before putting it away, “I’ll just, hold on to it for you. In case you change your mind.”

“I won’t.” Sasha had said to them.

They soon heard the door creak open, causing them to turn around. Plutia couldn’t but let out a gasp, as did Fiona and Sasha.

“So stubborn. You’re really gonna turn down a man’s going away gift?”

**  
_(Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace)_ **


	17. A "Misunderstanding"

**_(Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1)_ **

Plutia’s stomach suddenly made a growling sound. She laughed out of embarrassment. Sasha laughed and said, “I guess we should eat something, who knows when we’ll eat again.” She went over to the pan and started to cook up an egg sandwich. Fiona looked within the crate and saw that there was a total of three boxes. One was labeled, “F”, the second was labeled “P” and the third was labeled “S”.

Fiona took out the box that was labeled “F”. She opened and saw what was inside. “What is that?” Plutia asked her.

Fiona replied as she examined what was inside, “It looks like some sort of an upgrade, but it still only hold one shot.” She had looked further within box and found a second bullet, “Sweet! Now I have two bullets!” She said. She took out the box that was labeled “P”. “Here Plutie.” Fiona said handing her the box, “He left you something as well.”

Plutia took the box from Fiona and opened. “A bracelet?” Plutia said taking out of the box, “Made from crystal?”

“It looks beautiful.” Fiona said.

Plutia nodded her head, and placed it on her left wrist. She couldn’t help but admire it so. Plutia picked up the box that was labeled “S” She was about to open it but Fiona stopped her; She shook her head and took the box from Plutia’s hands. “Sasha.” She said, getting her attention, “This one's for you.”

Sasha took only one glance at the box, before going back to cooking, “I don’t want it.”

“Are you sure big sis?” Plutia asked her, “You’re not curious?”

“Yeah, at least not a little bit?” Fiona asked her.

“I’m sure I don’t want it.” Sasha told them not making eye contact.

“Oh, alright.” Fiona said before putting it away, “I’ll just, hold on to it for you. In case you change your mind.”

“I won’t.” Sasha had said to them.

They soon heard the door creak open, causing them to turn around. Plutia couldn’t but let out a gasp, as did Fiona and Sasha.

“So stubborn. You’re really gonna turn down a man’s going away gift?”

* * *

 

**_KROGER_ **

**_MOUSTACHE; A HIRED GUN_ **

* * *

 

Another man came up from behind him.

“Cold-blooded.” He said stretching his arm.

* * *

 

**_FINCH_ **

**_DON’T TALK ABOUT HIS HAIR; ALSO A HIRED GUN_ **

* * *

 

Both of them were armed with guns; Plutia couldn’t help but cling onto Fiona and as she started to back up..

“Right, you should be ashamed of yourselves.” Kroger said to them, “All of you, hands up. Now.”

Fiona and Sasha put their hands up, but Plutia still held onto Fiona as if her life depended on it. Kroger pointed the gun towards Plutia, “You two little lady, and don’t even think about trying any of your voodoo on us.”

Plutia gulped and hesitantly put her hands up

“Whatcha makin?” Kroger asked Sasha.

Sasha replied sternly, “Sandwich.”

“Mm? Why you gotta pan for a sandwich?”

“I like an egg on it.”

“Alright, that’s valid.”

“I like when the yolk is runny.” Finch said.

Fiona smirked and said to Finch, “Nice hair.”

Finch glared over at Fiona, “What’s that supposed to mean?” He said angrily.

“It means what it means.” Fiona stated, “Your hair is just nice.”

Finch pulled the gun right up to Fiona’s face; Plutia couldn’t help but shrink with fear, “I will shoot you in the face right NOW if your talking shit!”

“Whoa, Finch, calm down man.” Kroger said before saying to Fiona, “Don’t talk about his hair alright?”

All Fiona did was shrug with an innocent look on her face. Finch put his gun back in his holster. “Alright he’s good.” Sasha that the gun was near where she was standing. Fiona turned to her and nodded slightly to her. Sasha slowly and cautiously made her way to the gun.

“Ah.” Kroger said.

Sasha stopped and made a sneer at her; she slowly moved again.

“Ah, ah.” Kroger said pointing the gun to her. Sasha ignored him, and just moved slowly to the gun. This time Kroger shot at her feet, missing on purpose.

“You heard me going ah.” Kroger said, “You see me looking at you.”

“Make him shoot that nice floor and for what?” Finch said.

“For nothing.” Kroger said.

While they have there attention to Sasha, Fiona and Plutia both slowly started to move to the exit. When Fiona saw Kroger turn to her, she and Plutia stopped.

Kroger said, “Seriously, you guys got every bounty hunter on Pandora looking for you… And you’re making a sandwich?”

The three of them had said nothing to that.

Kroger then said to Finch, “Tie them up. Let’s get outta here.”

Finch went over to grab Plutia; but before he could, Fiona armed herself with the pistol she had hidden in her sleeve.

“Ooh, she’s fast.” Kroger said.

Finch looked over the small gun. “Please. You’re just embarrassing yourself.” He said; he held out his arms, “Go on.”

“ **FIONA! SHOOT HIM!!** ” Sasha yelled over to her.

Kroger said, “Seriously? You’re telling her to shoot at a dude who has people shoot him in the chest for fun.”

“I’m usually drunk.” Finch told him, “And I charge forty bucks, but you can have this one for free, go ahead, I won’t even clench.”

Fiona fired her bullet and it hit him in the chest, putting him into a shock (Literally). When she did, the cartridge that was blue had vanished. Finch backed up, shaking from the shock.

“You alright man?” Kroger asked.

Finch replied still feeling the shock, “Oh yeah… Re-real good.”

Kroger said to him, “Look you don’t have to be a tough guy about it. It’s cool.”

Due to the fact that he was shocked from the bullet, he had second-degree burns from it; he fell to his knees. Fiona used the opportunity to kick; he fell on his side with a grunt.

“ **HEY MAN!** ” Kroger exclaimed, “ **HEY!** ”

Sasha grabbed the pan that was beside her and slammed right into his face; the egg sandwich fell on the floor.

“ **RUN!!** ” Fiona shouted. The three sisters ran out of the safehouse; Sasha grabbed the gun before she ran out. Kroger fired his gun blindly as they ran outside. He stumbled out; leaning against the doorframe.

“ **OH I’M COUNTING THESE BULLETS!!** ” Kroger shouted to them, “ **AND THEY’RE COMING OUT OF YOUR--** ”

Suddenly Kroger was hit in the back of the head, with what appeared to be a shield. It flew towards them.

“ **LOOK OUT!!** ” Fiona yelled, pushing Sasha and Plutia against the wall.

The person who threw the shield jumped from the building, and caught the shield that flew back to her. She had her hood up, and her eyes glowed red.

* * *

 

**_ATHENA_ **

**_BAD ASS[SIN]; HATES ATLAS_ **

* * *

 

“They’re mine Kroger!” Athena said to him, “Take a walk!”

Kroger sat himself up trying to shake the pain, “I thought you retired!”

“You heard wrong.” She said to him.

The three sisters sprinted away with Athena right on their tail. They ran through an alleyway and ducked behind the crates. Athena came running around the corner.

“ **HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS!?** ” Sasha shouted; She started to fire at her. Athena armed her shield and blocked all the bullets that came her way.

“ **DAMN IT! SHE’S BLOCKING ALL MY SHOTS!!** ” She shouted to them.

“ **JUST KEEP IT UP SASHA!** ” Fiona yelled, “ **KEEP SHOOTING HER!** ”

Athena took her chance, she threw her shield at them. “ **WATCH OUT!!** ” Plutia shouted, but the shield ended up hitting the crates, causing them to fly back and land on the ground hard. They quickly got up on their feet and ran as fast as they could. As they ran Sasha fired at Athena, “ **HURRY THIS WAY!** ” Sasha shouted.

Sasha ran to the left, but instead of following Sasha both Fiona and Plutia ran straight for the purple skag.

“Hey!” Sasha said, “Where are you guys going!?”

“We’ll catch up with you don’t worry!!” Fiona reassured her.

“We’ll see you on the other side!” Plutia said to her.

Sasha nodded and ran in her own direction, while Fiona and Plutia ran into the Purple Skag.

Tector had noticed that they entered and grabbed a hold of Fiona. “ **BIG SISTER!!** ” Plutia cried out.

“ **TECTOR! LET GO OF ME!!** ” Fiona shouted as she struggled to get out of his grip. She grabbed a hold of a nearby bottle and hit Tector on the head, letting it break on impact. Tector let go of her and groaned grasping his head.

“ **GO PLUTIA RUN!!** ” Fiona shouted to her younger sister. Plutia nodded her head and she ran up the stairs, Fiona followed her. Athena ran into the Purple Skag and tackled Tector to the ground. She ran up the stairs after them, and Fiona got the window open. She let Plutia go out the window first, letting her drop down to the roof below; Fiona was about to follow her but was tackled by Athena. Several crates fell right on top of the Vault Hunter, and she was unable to move.

Plutia went to help Fiona up and they started to run again. They had gotten to a balcony and down below they saw Sasha running from Bandits.

“ **HEY GUYS!** ” She yelled firing at the Bandits; the bullets hit them all, “ **WHATCHA YOU DOING UP THERE!?** ”

A van came around the corner.

“ **BIG SIS! LOOKOUT!!** ” Plutia shouted to Sasha.

The van stopped turning to it’s side and Sasha stopped in her tracks. Fiona picked up Plutia and jumped down on the van. Still holding onto Plutia she continued to run. “What do we do now!?” Plutia said to Sasha looking at scared.

“Don’t worry Plutie, we’ll find a way!” Sasha said to her.

Just than a bandit came riding in on a motorcycle. “ **WE’RE GONNA MAKE YOU INTO SOME TASTY PUDDING!!** ” He shouted.

Plutia couldn’t help but bury her head in Fiona’s shoulder. The Bandit held up his buzz axe and shouted, “ **SMASH FINGER SANDWICHES!!** ”

Fiona moved out of the way as the Bandit drover towards her. Fiona noticed a ladder above them. “Start climbing!” Fiona said lifting Plutia up to grab the ladder. Fiona climbed after her, as the bandit drove at her again swinging his buzz axe.

Fiona caught up with Plutia; than they saw Athena in the distance. “Uh-oh…” Plutia couldn’t help but say.

They soon saw Sasha had gotten the bike from the Bandit and was now driving it. “ **HEY GUYS! LET’S GO!!** ” Sasha shouted to them.

Plutia ran and jumped first, down to the bike; Sasha caught her and placed her at the front of the bike. Fiona was the next to jump, just as Athena threw her shield and missed her by a few inches. Fiona landed on the back of the bike.

* * *

 

_(RHYS)_

_Oh yeah, like that ever happened._

__

**_(SHADOW & PLUTIA)_ **

**_Rhys!_ **

_(RHYS)_

_What?_

**_(PLUTIA)_ **

**_Don’t interrupt!_ **

****

**_(SHADOW)_ **

**_Yeah, don’t be rude._ **

****

_(RHYS)_

_Oh come on!_

_(FIONA)_

_It’s Plutia and my story, so shut up._

* * *

 

They drove done the road nearly hitting people on the way as they drove. Plutia turned around, “She’s not still back there is she?”

Fiona turned around, “I can’t see her anymore.”

“Are you sure?” Sasha asked, still having eyes on the road, “Maybe she’s on the rooftops.”

Fiona turned around, “She must be-- **WATCH OUT!!** ”

Athena just dropped right in front of their path and Sasha lost control on the bike. The three of them fell off the bike, and they hit the ground.

Athena approached them; her eyes had still glowed red. “This ends now.” She said.

The three of them got up off the ground not really knowing what to do. Plutia looked and saw Felix’s homemade grenade on Fiona’s belt. It gave her an idea. She grabbed the grenade surprising both Fiona and Sasha. “Plutia what are you--?!” Fiona said.

Plutia armed the grenade and threw the grenade towards Athena with all her strength. Athena shielded herself as the grenade went off. The three sisters started running again. “Nice thinking there Plutie!” Sasha said to her.

“Thanks!” Plutia said with a smile. They ran down the alley way, and Athena ran in the opposite direction, so that she would cut them off. Eventually they found themselves back at Scooters shop. They peered through the garage window and saw the caravan with a new coat of paint, looking brand new.

“Is… Is that our caravan?” Sasha said in disbelief.

“The guy works fast.” Fiona said.

Plutia was trying to get a peek since she was too short to reach the window. “Hey! I can’t see!” She couldn’t help but whine.

They soon heard Athena yell from afar, “ **GET AWAY FROM THERE!** ”

“Oh shit.” Sasha said,  “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.”

“Come on!” Fiona said to Sasha and Plutia, “Help me get this door open!”

“ **NO! STOP!** ” Athena shouted.

They started to open the door, but it ended up opening by itself.

Athena continued to shout, “ **NO! DON’T OPEN THAT!** ”

She threw her shield towards them. “ **DUCK!** ” Plutia shouted. The three of them ducked and the shield landed right in a nearby dumpster. They rolled right into the shop; but they ended up hitting at someone's feet.

“Can I ask what you’re doing?” A familiar voice said. It had turned out not only was Scooter in there but Mion and Shadow were standing the shop as well; a third person was there as well. A woman who was a junk dealer, who was also Scooters new proprietor.

“Seriously.” Shadow said, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Yeah, what’s the rush?” The Junk Dealer asked with an Australian accent ( ** _AN: IDK if it’s that accent; It just sounds like that to me, don't rage on me if I'm wrong_** )

“Ya been snortin’ on redrocks?” Scooter asked as well, “Why the heck’re ya’ll runnin’ ‘round on all the dirt for?”

“No time to chat!” Fiona said.

“Why what’s going on?” Mion asked her.  

“There’s a bounty on us.” Sasha explained.

“A bounty?” Shadow asked.

“Woah, wait a bounty?” Scooter said in disbelief.

“Quick, where are the keys?!” Fiona asked Scooter with panic in her face.

Shadow went over to her, “Woah, hey calm down.” He said.

They saw familiar shoes just at the garage door. “Hurry!!!” Sasha exclaimed. “Alright, alright, don’t have a heart attack.” Scooter said, looking for the keys.

Plutia went behind Fiona as she said, “She’s right there!”

“Who?” Mion asked. Shadow, Mion, the Junk Dealer and Scooter turned around to see who they were talking about. The garage door of course revealed to be Athena; her hood was now off and her eyes were now of her natural color which was of light purple.  

“Athena?” Shadow and Mion both said in unison.

“Well, hey hon.” The Junk Dealer said to her with a smile.

“Wow.” Athena said, “That is one slow door.”

The Junk Dealer walked over to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

* * *

 

**_JANEY SPRINGS_ **

**_SMALL BUSINESS OWNER/CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR/ KRAGGON SLAYER_ **

* * *

 

“Shades, Mion, Scooter. This is my girlfriend, Athena.” Janey said to them.

“Yeah, we’ve met before.” Mion said.

Scooter said, “Oh I know Athena. Ha. What’s up girl? Ya’ll kiss a lot?”

Athena noticed the two teens standing there. “Mion?” Athena said questioningly before turning to Shadow; her eyes widened with disbelief, “Shadow?”  

Shadow gave a smile awkwardly and said, “Hi Athena. It’s been a long time since I’ve last seen you.”

“Wait I thought you were--”

Athena was cut off when Plutia asked, “Wait, you know each other?” Of course, her question was directed at Janey, Shadow and Mion.

“Well yeah little lady.” Janey said with a smile, “As I said, she’s my girlfriend.”

Mion had added, seeing as how Shadow couldn’t answer, “And she helped us out on jobs when we worked with the Black Wind, before she retired.”

Fiona cleared her throat; and not wanting to cause a scene, she said, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Fiona, and these are my sisters, Sasha and Plutia.”

“Hi.” Plutia said hesitantly.

“Hello.” Sasha said awkwardly.

Fiona extended her hand over to her; Athena took her hand and they shook her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you.” Athena said with a friendly smile, “It’s too bad you, your sisters and friends won’t be sticking around much longer… Looks like your in a hurry to leave.”

“Yeah…” Fiona said, “We’ve got some… ** _Bad people on our tail_**.”

“Uh…” Mion said, “Does anyone else feel an awkwardness right now?”

“I kind of sense that right now too.” Shadow added.

They let go of each other's hands and backed up from each other. Athena noticed the caravan, “Whoa, this is some nice work on this caravan.” Athena commented.

“Oh you know I just did my best, in the time given.” Scooter said.

“Oh, now don’t be modest.” Janey said, “Look at this work!”

“I know right!” Mion said, “This is just so amazing!”

Shadow said to Scooter, “Your work is still amazing as ever.”

“Aw, shucks, thanks so much man!” Scooter said, “It means a lot to hear you say that!”

Janey turned to the group of five. “You guys are pretty lucky.” Janey said with a smile, “I mean your caravan is in such care of…” Janey soon saw the look that Athena and Fiona were giving each other a certain look; Shadow and Mion both noticed this too.

“Wait a minute.” Janey said, “Are you saying Athena was the one that was chasing you three?”

Shadow looked at Athena with a quizzical expression, “Really is that true?” He asked her.

“What? No.” Athena said to him and Janey, “This is just a **_misunderstanding_**.”

“How do you guys know it wasn’t her?” Sasha asked them.

“Well, Janey said so herself.” Shadow said, “Athena’s retired from that line of work.”

Janey had added, “Yeah, Athena made a promise to me that she was done with all of that, so there’s no way that she’s doing what you say she’s doing.”

Athena said, “That’s right, our relationship is more important to me than some stupid job.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Janey said.

“But she chased us here!” Sasha said to them.

Janey gave her an angry look, “Athena.” She said.

Athena immediately said, “Oh, that. Ha, no. I was actually just hurrying here to meet you. They must’ve thought I was chasing them because we were coming to the same place.”

Shadow looked to Janey and gave her a shrug while saying, “Sounds reasonable.”

“Yes! Exactly!” The Assassin said to her girlfriend, “As I was running here I thought, huh, they’re taking every turn I’m taking.”

“Woah!” Mion said, “That’s a coincidence!”

Sasha said with sarcasm, “Yeah… **_What a coincidence._** ”

“I was just gonna say that.” Athena said to her.

Both Sasha and Plutia let out fake laughter; obviously not really believing what they were hearing right now.  

Scooter didn’t know what came over him, but he started to laugh along with them. “What’re we laughing at?” Scooter asked, “Cause it’s weird. We’re laughing cause it’s weird right?”

Shadow put his hands together, “Well, it’s been fun catching up.” He said, “But we really should get going.”

“Yeah.” Sasha said, “We really should.”

The five of them proceeded into the caravan; Sasha started up the car and they drove out of the garage.

**  
  
**

“Stay safe out there.” Athena said, “Pandora feels a lot smaller when you’ve got people looking for you.”

Shadow told her, “Same to you.”

Thus they drove off leaving the shield behind. They exited Hollow Point and once more drove through the desert abyss. Fiona had asked the two teens, “So where your other two partners in crime? They’re not dead are they?”

Mion shook her head and replied, “Well, no. We got in a little trouble with an old flame but in the end we decided to split up.”

“So in other words they’re at Old Haven?” Sasha asked.

“Yeah, they’ll be sure to meet us there.” Mion said, “And I’m sure they’ll find out where they’re keeping this Gortys Project.”

“Alright, if you say so.” Fiona said, still unsure if she should trust them.

Shadow removed what appeared to be a doll from his belt; He handed it to Plutia. “Here.” He said with a smile, “I think this belongs to you.”

Plutia let out a bright smile and couldn’t help but squeal; She took the doll from him and hugged it tightly, “My doll! My mother’s doll!” She said with glee, “I can’t believe you found it!”

She than hugged Shadow, catching him by surprise, “Thank you so much!!”

Fiona was stunned, while Mion on the other hand chuckled. She said to Fiona, “What can I say, he has a way with kids.”

Plutia pushed herself out of the hug and said, “Oh! I have something for you too!”

“Huh?” Shadow couldn’t help but say.

Plutia wobbled over to the back and got out his sword. He was taken back by it, “My sword! You had it all this time?”

Plutia said with a smile as she handed his sword back to him, “You can thank Iris for that. She caught it before it could fly out.”

Shadow felt the blade of it and said, “I--Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Plutia laughed and said, “I could say the same for you.”

Thus they made their way to Old Haven, where Rhys and Vaughn were; hopefully they had found where the Gortys Project was.

**  
( _Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace_ )**


	18. The Gortys Project

- ** _Sometime Ago on Pandora (Rhys’s P.O.V) Old Haven_** -

After Shadow and Mion were dropped off over at Hollow Point, both Rhys and Vaughn immediately made their way to Old Haven to see what if they could find wherever the Gortys Project is. Loader Bot flew to the skies holding onto Rhys and Vaughn. As they flew the two of them looked down at Pandora from below.

“Y’know, from up here, Pandora is kinda of pretty.” Vaughn said to Rhys, “Don’t you think? I mean you know, with the reflections on the water and everything? And you can’t smell all the animal carcasses! So that’s nice right?”

Rhys, being afraid of heights couldn’t help but cling onto Loader Bot tightly. Vaughn couldn’t help but stick out his arms and legs, almost as if he was flying all on his own. “ **WOOOO!!** ” He cheered before asking, “Hey, would you catch me if I fell?”

“Gahhh…” Rhys said, almost throwing up, “I really wish you wouldn’t do that.”

“I’ll never let go.” Loader Bot said.

Soon enough, Loader Bot flew down to the abandoned town below. He touched the ground with ease holding Rhys and Vaughn by their shirt. He than set them both down to the ground. They looked around Old Haven not really finding anything out of the ordinary. Vaughn said, “Not to be a downer, but I’m not seeing any Atlas Facility. Are we sure this is the right spot?”

Rhys said to Loader Bot and Vaughn, “Alright guys, sure it’s not a fancy resort, but we’re not here for a day at the spa. We’re looking for a top secret military facility.”

“Still it doesn’t look like there’s anything here.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll figure something out. Pretty sure I can figure this out…”

Rhys activated his ECHOeye; when he did, he saw that there were some kind of power lines, all of them connected to one place. Of course he found this to be interesting.

“Well look at that…” Rhys said to himself, “Now we’re on to something.”

He followed the powerlines to what looked like a power box. Looking what was in front of him and saw something interesting.

“Hey guys! Come check this out!” He called out to Vaughn and Loader Bot.

“What is it?” Vaughn asked him.

Rhys had replied pointing over to the other part of Old Haven, “It looks like it’s a whole grid. It all leads right to here.”

Vaughn went over to a red box and said, “I mean, with all these power lines everywhere… They’ve gotta be connected to something. Right?”

Rhys looked over and saw a red box behind a billboard. He moved it out of the way, and proceeded to scan it, just to make sure it was the actual thing. When it was confirmed that was where the power lines lead, he opened it and saw a red wire that was unplugged; there were three more electrical sockets as well. He proceeded to plug the red wire into the socket that was next to it.

“Okay, let’s see what that does.”

The bar in the middle filled up halfway, activating the satellite. One of the satellite’s on the buildings moved slightly to the left; Rhys noticed this. He took the red plug out of the second socket and plugged it in all the way at the end. The bar in the middle filled up and it lit up showing the initials GP. The sound of a loud clang was heard.

“Alright! Now we’re on to something!”

He saw that the second powerbox was up on top of the building. Climbing up on the dumpster (After getting his foot stuck which sucks cause he still has only one shoe :P), he climbed up onto the roof of the building and went over to the power box. He used the red wire to plug into the last socket like he did with a previous one. Once again, a loud clang sound was heard.

“Two down, one to go.”

Vaughn and Loader Bot couldn’t help but give him a thumbs up. He went to the final power box which was right by Vaughn. He opened it and did the same as the others.

“And… There we go!”

All of a sudden half of Old Haven lifted up into the sky. Underneath all of the buildings was an even larger than the others; the logo GP was on the middle of the building. Rhys and Vaughn both backed up as the building kept going up to a point. The door that had the logo across opened up for him and Vaughn.

“Underground hidden doors!” Vaughn said with excitement, “Ha! Atlas man…”

Rhys turned to Vaughn, “Alright, let’s go ahead and check this place--”

“Well, well, well.”

Rhys and Vaughn turned around and they found themselves standing at gunpoint, by the man whom they meet when they almost bought the fake Vault Key; It was August, but he had bought back-up.

“Hello again, ten million dollars.” August said with a smirk, “Miss me?”

“Oh shit.” Rhys and Vaughn said in unison.

* * *

 

- ** _A Few Moments Later_** -

The caravan drove into the old mining town of Old Haven, and the first thing they saw when the caravan first drove up was a huge building that had the initials GP in the middle of it. Fiona, Sasha, Plutia, Mion and Shadow exited the caravan, and couldn’t help but stare in awe by it.

“Whoa… This place is huge.” Plutia said, breaking the silence between them.

“I’m just gonna hazard a guess that this is our Gortys Building.” Sasha said to them.

“I’m thinking the signs would point to yes.” Fiona said to her.

Sasha took a closer look at the building, “This looks like it was unburied recently. I’d say within the last hour. You guys really think your Hyperion buddies did this?”

“We’re both confident that it was them.” Mion said to Sasha, “I know they don’t exactly look it, but they’re pretty smart when it comes to technology.”

“I don’t know, I’d say that Loader Bot of yours might have badass enough to do this.” Fiona told the teens.

“You can think what you like.” Shadow said.

Plutia looked around and asked, “Where are they anyway? I thought you said that they would be here?”

Mion replied, “If Shades and I know them, they’re probably already inside checking the place out.”

Sasha said to the group, “Well what are we waiting for? Let’s head in, see what this place has to offer.”

They nodded their heads and proceeded inside the building. The first thing they saw when they walked down the steep hill was a statue of a muscled man holding a globe with the word Atlas going around it. They also saw several dead bodies all over the floor and blood stains on he floor and walls. Sasha and Mion went to examine the body; both of them recognized the uniforms.

“Crimson Lance.” Sasha said, poking the head, “These guys are serious badasses.”

“From the looks of it, it was Athena’s handiwork.” Mion said.

Fiona took a closer look at the bodies, “Looks like. I’m starting to think that we might’ve just gotten lucky with back there.”

They soon heard an additional voices in the room; they all knew who they belonged too.

“You’ll do what we tell you to do, or you die. Simple as that.”

“Well, yeah, but it seems like you’re gonna kill us anyway.”  

“Shut up smartass.”

“Shit, get down.” Shadow said, they all got behind what made the statue stood, and they all took a peek. They saw August at the other side of the room, August was there along with his men. They saw Rhys and Vaughn there as well, with there hands up; Loader Bot was standing down.

“Rhys! Vaughn!” Mion exclaimed softly.

“Damn it all, we can’t even leave them alone for one second!” Shadow whispered facepalming himself.

“This looks really bad.” Plutia whispered, hugging her doll tightly, “Since August is here it has to be bad.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Sasha asked her sister.

Fiona turned to Shadow (Who still had the broken arm), “You think you can take out those guys?”

Shadow replied, “Normally I would, but considering I have a broken arm, which by the way is also my good arm, I think I’ll be able to take out maybe four of them.”

“Alright better than nothing.” Fiona said, “So you’ll provide a distraction, while Sasha, Mion and I--”

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

They turned around when they heard a voice just behind them. They slowly turned around, to see that it was man that Shadow and Mion knew all too well. “Shit.” Both of the teens said. They were brought over to the rest of the group. They all had their hands up (Well Shadow has one hand up since his arm was still broken)  and they’re weapons were taken from them by August’s men.

“Hey August, look who finally decided to show up to the party.” Vasquez said pointing a gun to them.

“Oh crap.” Rhys said.

“Vazquez.” Vaughn said with a glare.

“Vaughn, Rhys.” Vazquez greeted before saying, “Didn’t think you’d given me the slip now do you? You didn’t think I’d have August holding all my dirty work, didja?”

Rhys groaned and said, “Oh my god, I am so sick of thi! Would you just screw off already!?”

“Yeah, take a hike would ya!?” Mion said.

“Why do you waste your time just screwing with us?” Shadow said to her, “They’re plenty other people in the world you can be tormenting.”

“True.” August said to him, “But none of them have the Gortys Core.”

Vaughn had shouted, “ **LOADER BOT! ARM WEAPONS OR SOMETHING!!** ”

“I’m helping.” Loader Bot said.

Right when Loader Bot was about to throw a punch at Vasquez, he pulled a small remote with a red button out of his pocket. He pressed the button and the Loader Bot suddenly froze in place.

The small group was dumbfounded. “What the--!?” Rhys said in disbelief.

“Come on guys, you didn’t think I’d come all the way down here before grabbing a universal remote did you?” Vasquez said.

“What?” Loader Bot said questioningly.

Vasquez said to them, “The Gortys Project, the two halves of the Core, everything that’ll lead us to a Vault… We got it all. Checkmate, amigos.”

“I am shame--”

Loader Bot was cut off when Vasquez hit the button again; this time his legs shut down and it caused him to fall over. “Loader Bot!!” Mion exclaimed.

Rhys glared at Vasquez as did Shadow. Their former boss noticed the looks on their faces, “Oh come on what did you two think? That you and your buddies could pilfer something from my toybox, no strings attached?” He stepped on to of Loader Bot and rested his arm on his knee, “The two of you could never follow through. And that’s why I beat you everytime.”

“You…” Shadow said with a hiss.

“Oh you’re payback is coming asshole.” Rhys said walking over to him, “I don’t know how, I don’t know when, but  you’re gonna make a mistake and when you do… You can bet your ass that Shadow and I will be there.”

“Sure, sure.” Vasquez said, “I’ll be sure to bring flowers.”

Rhys said, but stammered at the end of his sentence, “Yeah, you’ll bring--Wait a second you’ll bring what?”

Vasquez punched Rhys right on the head, which caused him to fall over on his side, dropping the core half he carried. When he was hit on the head, Shadow heard that painful ringing sound in his head causing him to groan in agony. Plutia noticed this and went over to him, to make sure he was alright.

“To your graves. Cause you’ll be dead.”

It wasn’t long before both Rhys, Shadow, and this time Plutia heard a voice that started out distorted, but then sounded normal. Of course it was none other than Handsome Jack.

“ ** _oOOoH, YoU gUYs wiLL nOt BELieVE tHE drEAm i JuST haD! hOLy cRa--_** ”

Jack cut himself off when he saw the predicament that they were in. “Wait, wait, wait, what the hell is this?” Jack asked as he got up, “Didn’t I just do this? With this guy? I mean kiddo, I admire your consistency but, god…”

Jack noticed August there about to pick up the core, “Oh and who is THIS Princess?” He asked crossing his arms.

Plutia stared at Jack a bit dumbfounded by the fact that he was standing there. “It’s you again…” She whispered. Jack of course heard and turned to her in disbelief when he realized, she was staring at him.

“Wait, you can see me kiddo?” Jack asked her.

Plutia didn’t have time to answer when she saw August about to pick up the core. “ **NO AUGUST DON’T!** ” Plutia yelled, “ **THEY--!!** ”

August touched it but of course he got shocked, and it caused him to throw the Core half in the air.

“ **GAH!!** ” August cried out, “ **SON OF A--!!** ”

Rhys caught the Core before it could hit the ground. “Shock other people.” Vaughn finished for Plutia.

August shook the pain from his hand from the shock. “Oh yes, I knew about that.” Vasquez said to him, “Don’t touch the Cores August.”

“Yeah, thanks for the heads up!” August said sarcastically before mumbling, “Jackass.”

“They’re going to have to do it for us.” Vasquez said before asking both Rhys and Fiona, “You’ll cooperate, right? Because I figure if you don’t… Well I can think of all sort of things to do to your little friends.”

“How exactly can we cooperate with you, when we don’t even know what this Gortys Project is?” Mion said to him.

Rhys had added, “We don’t even know what these Cores do!”

Vasquez nodded his head, “Fair enough. I vote that we find out together.”

August noticed that there were two doors; both of the doors had logos that looked exactly like the Cores. “Two hallways…” August said, “Two halves.”

Vasquez said to August, “I’ll take my soon to be dead janitor here, and you take Miss Fancy Hat down the other one.”

Before they could make there way down, Vasquez said, “Oh, and just in case if you don’t cooperate…” He grabbed Shadow by his broken arm, causing him to cry out in pain; Rhys could almost swear that Jack had a pissed off look at that.

“He’s gonna be the first to die, if you try anything funny.” He said still holding him by his broken arm. Thus Rhy, Shadow and Rhys, Jack included went into the hallway on the left.

August got a similar idea, and took Plutia by the arm. Fiona and Sasha both got a pissed off look on their faces, “Same thing’s gonna happen to her, if you don’t cooperate.” He said Fiona before turning to Plutia, “Walk in front of me, and don’t try anything you’ll regret.”

Plutia hesitantly nodded her head, and they both started moving, August still pointed his gun right Plutia.

* * *

 

( ** _Rhys & Shadow’s P.O.V_**)

The three of them walked down the hallway, Vasquez still hanging onto Shadow’s broken arm. “I’ll admit: you two have impressed me.” Vasquez said, “And that sort of thing doesn’t happen often. I’m surprised you both made it this far.”

Jack kept looking at Vasquez questioningly, “Hmmm, Hugo Vasquez… There’s something I remember about this guy. What hell is it?”  He said to Shadow

Shadow mumbled over to him, “How the hell should I know that? I didn’t work for you then remember?”

Vasquez didn’t hear him, as he continued to talk, “Really. It’s unbelievable. You two must have some sort of help. Couple of desk jockeys like you. I’d say fifty/fifty you’d survive the moon landing… Much less as getting far as you both have.”

“Desk jockeys.” Jack said laughing; before saying to Shadow, “If he only knew the real you.”

Rhys wondered what he meant by that, but shook it off and replied to Vasquez, “There’s nothing you or Pandora can throw at us that’s tougher than navigating the halls of Hyperion.”

Vasquez chuckled at that and said, “I know what you mean. It does go down in the H-Town doesn’t it?”

“It most certainly does.” Shadow said.

Vasquez said, “You two might think of me as a self made man and for the most part you’d be right. But there was a time, when I’d looked up and admired one man in particular. The most impressive man I’ve ever known.”

“He’s gonna say me.” Jack said to Rhys and Shadow.

“Handsome Jack.” Vasquez said like Jack had predictated.

“You idiots always say me.” Jack said, “Well, not counting Shady and Mimi. I still can’t figure out who he is though.”

Vasquez had explained at one point letting go of Shadow’s broken arm, “We had this special rapport. He would do this thing where he would punch me in the face whenever he’d see me. It didn’t matter if he was busy. He always made time for me.”

Jack crossed his arms and shook his head. “Nah, still nothing.” He said, “I punched my mom for christ sake.”

Rhys and Shadow both gave Jack a look to him. Jack looked at them both and said, “What? No joke, I did do that shit.”

“Just boom right in the kisser!” Vasquez said, “I was drinking a mug when he got me one time.”

“Woah…” Shadow said with sarcasm, “What a deep relationship…”

“He thought we were exclusive, that’s adorable.” Jack said amused.

Rhys on the other hand said, “Man… The best I ever got was him spitting on me once. He was walking by and I was like there getting spit on. I’m kinda of jealous of the relationship you guys had.”

“It’s only natural…” Vasquez said, “Clearly he saw me as… **_Special._** ”

Both Shadow and Jack gave an equal look of confusion and disgust; and they couldn’t help but look at each other both thinking the same thing.

“I miss our time together.” Vasquez said.

Jack rubbed the back of his head, “Okay, seriously, this is driving me crazy, it’s right there on the tip of my tongue.”

Vasquez had continued, “...But through me, his legacy carries on.”

Rhys gave Shadow a confused as did the young teen; he shrugged to Rhys. In the next second Vasquez had punched Rhys right in the gut, causing Shadow and even Jack to back up. Rhys fell on his side, putting his arms over where it hurt.

* * *

 

( ** _Fiona & Plutia’s P.O.V_**)

Fiona walked in front of Plutia and August was right behind the little eleven year old girl; his gun was pressed against her back. She held onto her doll hugging it tightly; It calmed her down a little but not by that much.

“ ** _Plutia come on!_** ” She heard Iris say through her thoughts, “ ** _Let me at this bastard for what he’s doing to us!_** ”

“ _Iris, I can’t._ ” Plutia replied in her head, “ _He might kill big sister and big sis if I let you out now._ ”

“ ** _Than let me out before that can happen!_** ”

“ _And what about the others? They might kill them too._ ”

“ ** _Face it, this asshole and that other asshole, might kill you all anyway once this is all over. Didja ever stop to consider that?_** ”

“We don’t know that for sure. Please just wait a bit longer Iris. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

She heard Iris grunt in her head; from what she could tell, she was annoyed by Plutia’s decision, “ ** _Don’t say I didn’t warn you._** ”

 

Fiona looked over to August and finally asked him, “How the hell did you get paired up with an asshole like Vasquez?”

“He’s not that bad.” August said, “He’s just… A little dumb.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet.” Fiona said to him, while rolling her eyes. August sighed and explained, “Vallory… The woman that I work for. She’s just got a lot of contacts up in Hyperion, Vasquez being one of them. Problem is we tried to cut her out of the deal. Obviously that was a bad idea for a lot of reasons. The fact that the Vault Key was bullshit from the first and foremost. Well, Vallory found out about it, so now, we’ve gotta convince her that whatever comes out of this room is worth more than ten million dollar deal slip under her nose. Then hopefully, she doesn’t kill us all.”

Silence once again came over the three of them. Plutia still hugged her doll tightly. “She ever talk about me?” August asked Fiona.

“What? Who?” Fiona asked him.

“Sasha.” August said, once again asking, “Did she ever talk about me? I mean you guys are sisters. I figure you talk once in awhile. Just curious if she ever mentioned me.”

Fiona replied, “She thinks you’re dangerous.”

“Yeah, well, I am.” August said, “So that’s fine. Maybe that’s something she likes about me.”

“It’s not.” Fiona said, “You killed a guy right in front of us. Don’t you remember?”

“Oh… Yeah right… That was rash.”

“Ya think?”

“But listen, that guy… He was a bad guy. Ripping my family off for years. Just stacking lies on top of lies until he couldn’t remember what the truth was. He had plenty of outs. He choose not to use’em. Just so you know, as far as you, Plutia and I are concerned, there’s no hard feelings.”

“That is so generous… I’ll remember that when you shoot us both in the back.”

“Come on, don’t be like that. You’re the one that hustled me remember?”

* * *

 

( ** _Rhys & Shadow’s P.O.V_**)

Vasquez was already giving his speech on why he did what he depromoted them to janior when they still worked up in Hyperion.

“--And that you see is what I was trying to provide for the two of you.” Vasquez said finishing up, “Some guidance, some mentorship. A father figure. I was trying to help you. The janitor gig… It was to test your mettle… your resolve. And I gotta say, you two reacted with some balls. Some big old balls.”

Shadow couldn’t help but think in his thoughts. “ ** _Father figure and mentor huh? That sounds familiar…_** ”

Rhys and him looked over to Jack; he was looking over to Vasquez close up, trying to recognize his face.

Vasquez didn’t notice this and said, “You see you two, I started from the bottom and I worked my up… I uh… I used to be in the mailroom.”

Jack’s eyes widened in realization, “Woah, wait a minute!” Jack said before exclaiming, “ **WALLETHEAD!** ”

Rhys and Shadow both looked at him with a confused look on their faces. As Vasquez continued to talk, Jack had explained to them, “He used to be bald and he was going through these hair in plants, and I would stick money to his head and it was…” Jack laughed in the middle of his sentence, “It was hilarious! But that was a long time ago, go on, ask him about it, he’ll tell you. Ask him about it.”

Shadow helped Rhys to stand up on his feet, and Rhys had said to Vasquez after clearing his throat, “Listen uh… Wallethead.”

Vasquez was taken back by that name, “Wa--Wa--Wallethead?”

Jack laughed at his expression.

Rhys continued, “Yeah, so… While Shadow and I both appreciate the advice, we’d much rather take your two cents and shove them into your wallet you have in the back of your head that you are ashamed of, because you are a Wallethead.”

Shadow’s mouth hung open, as did Vasquez. Silence came over them; the only thing that was heard was the sound of Jack’s laughter (Even though Vasquez couldn’t hear him)

“I’m not gonna lie…” Shadow said finally breaking the silence, “I’m at a loss for words.”

“I uh…” Vasquez said, “I was trying to be nice to you.”

He went grab Shadow’s broken arm, causing him to groan in pain; He said to Rhys, “Let’s get this over with.” Rhys started to walk, going through Jack (Much to his displeasure). Vasquez said to them as he forced Shadow to walk., “When I take your corpses back up to Helios, I’m gonna make sure they save one of your skins to make a wallet out of. Whenever I see it, I’ll remember the look on your faces at this moment.”

Jack said as he watched them walk down the hall, “Woah…. That’s… Legitimately creepy.” They got the end of the hallway they saw that there was a platform in front of them, with a console; in the middle of the console was the shape of the core. In the room, it looked as though that they were staring into outer space.

Rhys stepped inside and turned to Vasquez. “Well, what are you waiting for?” Vasquez said to him, “Go ahead and do it.”

“Hand Shadow over first.” Rhys said.

Vasquez complied, pushing Shadow over to him. Shadow stepped in with Rhys, and glared over at Vasquez, gently rubbing his arm.

“You alright?” Rhys asked him.

Shadow nodded, “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

Rhys nodded his head. He placed the core inside the console. Both him and Shadow stumbled when they felt the platform move. But when it did, a red shield had activated right behind them, blocking off Vasquez.

“No! **NO!** ” Vasquez shouted trying to break the shield, “ **HEY! HEY!!** ”

* * *

 

( ** _Fiona & Plutia’s P.O.V_**)

“I just…” August explained to Fiona and Plutia, “I just need some reassurances. That it was just about the money and nothing else. Relationships have to be built on trust. I don’t know if I can take Sasha back without it. How do you even start a conversation like that? At this point I assume she’s just embarrassed.”

Fiona could tell by the sound of his voice, that he wants to make it up to Sasha after what he did; although being protective over Sasha, she didn’t want him to have her back, even if he was conned in the first place.

Fiona decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“You two should talk.” Fiona said to him, “Clear the air. See where that get’s you.”

“Yeah…” August said, “We should do that.”

They soon approached the end of the hallway. “Well, here we are.” August said.

They saw through the door there was a console and in the middle it was in the Core. August allowed Plutia to go over to Fiona; She couldn’t help but hug her.

“Go on.” August said, “Stalling’s not gonna do you any good.”

Fiona went inside along with Plutia; they saw Rhys and Shadow in the middle of the room. Fiona placed the Core in the console and they stumbled when the platform moved.  They saw a red shield had activated.

“ **HEY!** ” August shouted, “ **WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?** ”

He tried to break the shield as he shouted, “ **NO! NO! NO!!** ”

The platform started to move surprising the two sisters. It started to move to the middle of the room where Rhys and Shadow were. When the platforms turned the Consoles with the cores moved on opposite sides of the platforms.

Rhys and Shadow stood at the opposite sides of Fiona and Plutia.

“Hey.” Rhys said to Fiona.

“Hey yourself.” Fiona said to Rhys.

“You guys have a nice chat?” Rhys asked, “I mean I can’t imagine he’s too happy with you guys. At least, that’s the vibe I was getting.”

Fiona replied, “We’re working a few things out.”

Rhys said to her, “That’s good, that’s good. It’s important to clear the air with your captors.”

Plutia placed her doll back on her belt, ran over to Shadow hugging him; he hugged her back with his good arm. “I was really worried about you.”

Shadow broke out of the hug, and asked her, “He didn’t hurt you or your sister did he?”

Plutia shook her head and Shadow sighed with relief. They heard a computerized voice echo throughout the room, “ ** _GORTYS UNIT READY FOR ASSEMBLY._** ”

They heard a knock on the glass and turned to the source. Vasquez point the gun towards Vaughn while one of August’s men pointed a gun towards Mion.

“ **WE GOT IT! WE GOT IT!!** ” Rhys shouted to him, before saying to the small group, “Let’s hurry and get this done. Fiona, help me out with this.” Fiona nodded her head and went over to the console on the left while Rhys went to the right. Shadow and Plutia watched from the sidelines.

They started to push the consoles towards each other. Slowly but surely they started to get closer to one another. Electricity started to surge between the middle and both Rhys and Fiona were struggling with it now.

“ **GAH!** ” Fiona groaned, “ **KEEP PUSHING!** ”

“ **WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU THINK I’M DOING!?** ” Rhys shouted over to her, as he continued to push.

Finally, the two consoles that contained the Cores, connected with one another; Rhys and Fiona both took a moment to catch their breath.

“ ** _PROGRAM COMPLETE._** ” The computer voice said, “ ** _RECONFIGURING PROBABILITY MATRIX._** ”

After a few moments the consoles separated with one another and it was revealed to be a red and silver sphere, with small yellow lights. The group of four within the room, couldn’t help but looked at it curiously as it floated in the middle of the platform.

“What is it?” Plutia asked curiously.

“That… Is a metal ball.” Rhys said to Plutia.

“Could this be this the Gortys Project that Atlas was working on?” Shadow asked.

Fiona tilted her head, “How is this going to get us into a Vault?”

Rhys had said, “At this point it’s the only leverage we got.”

“Meaning?” The Con Artist asked him.

Rhys gestured over to the rest of the group behind the glass window; seeing Vaughn, Mion, and Sasha pretty much being held at gunpoint.

“Right.” Fiona said.

“We’ve only got one bargaining chip.” Shadow said.  

The group looked over to where there friends were. August knocked on glass, obviously getting impatient.

“ **OKAY!!** ” Fiona shouted over to him, before saying to them, “Let’s just grab the thing and go.”

Rhys gave a single tap on the sphere, but then it suddenly dropped to the ground. “ **WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?** ” Fiona exclaimed.

“ **I GOT IT!** ” Plutia yelled, diving to grab the sphere. She managed to catch it but almost slid off. Luckily Shadow acted quick and grabbed Plutia by the leg with his good arm.

“ **WARNING. GORTYS DEVICE COMPROMISED.** ” The computer voice said.

Jack was suddenly there, and had seen what had happened. “Real smooth kiddo.” Jack said sarcastically.

All of a sudden, the Atlas Security Bots came online and flew up to where they were; they armed themselves. Plutia squeaked, almost dropping the sphere again. “Uh-oh.” She said.

“No! It’s fine!” Shadow said to the bots, “It’s not damaged! Really!”

More of the same bots flew up to where they were.

“Ooo.” Jack said seeing the many bots, “It didn’t like that Shady. Did not like that at all.”

Shadow and Plutia both stood up; Plutia hanging on to the sphere. “This isn’t a problem!” Rhys said, feeling panicky, “Everything is okay!”

About four bots started to circle them with guns armed and ready to fire. If that wasn’t enough of a problem, the bots were now seen outside, with their guns armed and ready to fire at the large group.

“ **MION! VAUGHN!** ” Shadow shouted.

“ **BIG SIS!** ” Plutia cried out.

From behind the glass they saw August arm his pistol; he was aiming it right at Sasha’s face.

“ **HEY!** ” Fiona and Plutia shouted, with anger in their tone of voice.

A purple light surrounded Plutia and she changed her appearance; her braid had once again fell out of place, taking Shadow and Rhys back by surprise.

“Get away from Sasha you fucktards!!” Iris shouted her had materialized and was armed and ready.

“Holy shit!” Jack exclaimed when he saw Iris there, “I didn’t see that one coming!”

Fiona held Iris back, “Wait a second!” She said, “I’ve got an idea. Give me the sphere.”

Iris turned to Fiona, and was about to protest. It wasn’t long until she saw Fiona was holding something of use in the palm of her hand. She nodded and handed the sphere to her.

“Wait!” Rhys said, “What are you doing!?”

“What are you planning!?” Shadow said to her.

“Just trust me.” Was all Fiona said. She turned to look at the group behind the glass. All of a sudden she held in the air and it was revealed to be a grenade, “ **BACK OFF!!** ” She shouted to them.

“ **WHOA! WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! WHAT IS SHE DOING!?** ” Jack exclaimed, turning to Rhys and Shadow, “This isn’t good! This is bad!!”

Vasquez had grabbed a hold of Vaughn, and held the gun to his head. Mion was about to charge at Vasquez, but was grabbed by August’s men.

“Rhys!” Jack said, “Rhysie! You gotta let me in to your subsystems man!”

“What good will that do!?” Rhys whispered to him.

“I can easily hack into the systems!” Jack explained, “And… Almost guarantee no one dies, unless you want em too!”

“Almost guarantee?” Shadow said to him.

“Probably! I don’t know!” Jack said, “Just let me in!”

Rhys didn’t know what to decide exactly.

Vaughn and Mion were both struggling out of there hold. Vaughn almost fell to the sighed, but Vasquez kept a firm grasp on him; Mion was punched in the gut. “ **VAUGHN!! MION!!** ” Rhys and Shadow shouted.   

“You guys it’s under control.” Iris told them, Jack included, “You just have to trust us!”

“What?! No don’t listen to her!” Jack said, before saying to Rhys, “Look, we can take over the whole facility kid! We got this.”

“ **I’LL DO IT!! BACK AWAY!!** ” Fiona shouted to them.

“They don’t even have a plan!” Jack said to them.

“Rhys!” Shadow said, “Make a decision!”

Rhys thought about it, and he thought about it quick; he had made his choice, and it was one that Jack didn’t like. He turned to Fiona, “Whatever you’re gonna do Fiona, do it!” He said.

Fiona turned to him and smiled.

“ **NO! NO!** ” Jack shouted, “ **YOU’RE MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE!!** ”

But it wasn’t long till Jack remembered what he could do. He turned over to Shadow, and hatched an idea of his own. Iris saw Shadow fall over; She managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

“Shadow!” Iris said trying to shake him awake, “Shades! Hey wake up!” It was only after a few seconds before he started to twitch.

Fiona didn’t take notice of this as she stepped forward with the grenade in hand. She said with a smile, “No one lives forever.”

And just when she was about to arm it, a hand had suddenly grabbed a hold of her wrist. Fiona turned to see that it was Shadow. “Shadow!?” She and Rhys exclaimed.

Shadow started to chuckle; he picked up his head, and Fiona saw that his ECHOeye was blue. “Now that was too close for comfort.” Shadow said with a grin, “What did you expect to with that, huh? Just through it in the air and hope for a miracle, man aren’t you dense?”

“Shadow, what the fuck are you doing!?” Iris shouted to him.

He turned to her and she and Rhys were taken back when they saw his eye was blue. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” He asked her.

“Oh no.” Rhys whispered when he recognized that familiar color eye.

He turned back to Fiona and let go of her wrist, “Why don’t you just sit back and let a professional handle this sweetheart?”

“Sweetheart?” Fiona said with confusion.

Shadow chuckled and suddenly snapped his fingers. The robots had suddenly stopped circling around them. The teen started to move his hand in many motions, all the while his grin grew wider.

“Ho--How is he doing that?” Fiona asked Rhys.

“He’s not.” Rhys said, see the hologram of Jack motioning his hand in many directions while Shadow copied his movements. He lifted his hand, and the bots turned over to the group behind the glass; the lights had suddenly turned to blue.

Both Jack and Shadow couldn’t help but laugh.

“ **HAIL TO THE KING BABY!!!** ”

( ** _Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1_** )

**  
_ To be continued in “Borderlands: Journey to the Vault” _ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of Borderlands: The Gortys Project, for now. The reason why I wanted to make this story into two parts is because, I wanted to add more of my original things like the Black Wind in all, but I couldn't do that with out making this like sixty chapters long, so I wanted to end it right here. 
> 
> But fear not, there will be a sequel which appropriately be titled, Borderlands: Journey to the Vault. It shall be posted so keep your eyes out for that :)


End file.
